LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



DDDDH417E15 





Lutiiei- xudiei. Alb 



A TREATISE 

ON THE 

THEORY AND PRACTICE 

OF 

LANDSCAPE GARDENING, 

ADAPTED TO 

H r 1 1] '% in f r i ni ; 

WITH A VIKW TO THE 

IMPROVEMENT OF COUNTllY RESIDENCES. 

C0MPRI8INQ 

HISTOItlOAL N0TICE3 AND QKNEIiAL PUINCIPLES OF THE ART, 

DIRECTIOJiS FOP LAYING OUT GROUNDS AND AnRANQING PXANTATIONS, THfi 

DESCniVTlOS AND CCLTIVATION OF liAHDY TREE:J, DKOORATIVE 

ACCOMPANIJIENTa OF THE HOUSE AND GROUNDS, 

THE FORMATION OF 

PIECK3 OF A15TIFICIAI. WATER, FLOWER GARDENS, ETC, 

WITH 

REMARKS ON RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 

BY THE LATE A. J. DOWNIXO, ESQ. 
SIXTH EDITION. 

ENLARGED, BKVISED, AND NEWLT ILLUSTRATED. 

WITH A SUPPLEMENT, 

rONTAINlNO SOMTi REMARKS ABOUT COUNTr.T PLACES, AND THE Cr.ST METHODS OJ? 
MAKING THF.M ; ALSO, AN ACCOUNT OF THE NEWER DECIDUOUS "AND EVER- 
GREEN PLANTS. LATELY INTRODUCED INTO CULTIVATION, BOTH HARDY 
AND HALr-HARDY. 

B Y 

HENRY WINTHROP SARGENT. 



NEW YORK: 

C. M. SAXTON, BARKER & CO., 25 PARK ROW. 

SAN FRANCISCO: n. II. BANCROFT & CO. 

1860. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, 
By a. O. MOOEE & CO., 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, ia and lor the 
Southern District of New York. ^ 



^^' ' 



3 



y 



TO 

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, LL.D., 

EX-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES} 

THE LOVKE OF RURAL PURSUITS, 
A3 WELL AS 

THE DISTINGUISHED PATRIOT, STATESMAN, 

AND sage; 
THIS VOLUME 

Br PEBMI8SI0N, 

IS RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIOVATELY 
DEDICATED, 

BY HIS FRIENn, 

THJi AUTHOR. 



PREFACE 



TO THE FOURTH EDITION. 



It is even more gratifying to the author of this work to 
know, from actual observation, that the pubUc taste in 
Rural Embellishment has, within a few years past, made 
the most rapid progress in this country, than to feel assured 
by the call for a fourth edition, that his own imperfect 
labors for the accomplishment of that end have been most 
kindly appreciated. 

In the present edition considerable alterations and 
amendments have been made in some portions — especially 
in that section relating to the nature of the Beautiful and 
the Picturesque. The difference among critics regarding 
natural expression and its reproduction in Landscape 
Gardening, has led him more carefully to examine this 
part of the subject, in order, if possible, to present it in 
the clearest and most definite manner. 

The whole work has also been revised, and more 
copiously illustrated, and is now offered in a more com- 
[)lete form than in any previous edition. 

A. J. D. 

Newburgli, New York, Jan. 1849. 



P E E F A C E. 



A TASTE for rural improvements of every description 
is advancing silently, but with great rapidity in this country 
While yet in the far west the pioneer constructs his rude 
hut of logs for a dwelling, and sweeps away with his axe 
the lofty forest trees that encumber the ground, in the 
older portions of the Union, bordering the Atlantic, we 
are surrounded by all the luxuries and refinements that 
belong to an old and long cultivated country. Within the 
last ten years, especially, the evidences of the growing 
wealth and prosperity of our citizens have become 
apparent in the great increase of elegant cottage and villa 
residences on the banks of our noble rivers, along our 
rich valleys, and wherever nature seems to invite us by 
her rich and varied charms. 

In all the expenditure of means in these improvements, 
amounting in the aggregate to an immense sum, pro- 
fessional talent is seldom employed in Architecture or 
Landscape Gardening, but almost every man fancies 
himself an amateur, and endeavors to plan and arrange his 
own residence. With but little practical knowledge, and 
few correct principles for his guidance, it is not surprising 
that we witness much incongruity and great waste of time 
and money. Even those who are familiar with foreign 
works on the subject in question labor under many 
obstacles in practice, which grow out of the difference in 
our soil and cUmate, or our social and political position. 

These views have so often presented themselves to me of 

late, and have been so frequently urged by persons 

"desiring advice, that I have ventured to prepare the present 

volume, in the hope of supplying, in some degree, tht 



Vlll 



desideratum so much felt at present. While we have 
treatises, in abundance, on the various departments of the 
arts and sciences, there has not appeared even a single 
essay on the elegant art of Landscape Gardening. Hun- 
dreds of individuals who wish to ornament their grounds 
and embellish their places, are at a loss how to proceed, 
from the want of some leading principles, with the 
knowledge of which they would find it comparatively easy 
to produce delightful and satisfactory results. 

In the following pages I have attempted to trace out 
such principles, and to suggest practicable methods of 
embellishing our Rural Residences, on a scale com- 
mensurate to the views and means of our proprietors. 
While I have availed myself of the works of European 
authors, and especially those of Britain, where Landscape 
Gardening was first raised to the rank of a fine art, I have 
also endeavored to adapt my suggestions especially to this 
country and to the peculiar wants of its inhabitants. 

As a people descended from the English stock, we 
inherit much of the ardent love of rural life and its pursuits 
which belongs to that nation ; but our peculiar position, in 
a new world that required a population full of enterprise 
and energy to subdue and improve its vast territory, has, 
until lately, left but little time to cultivate a taste for Rural 
Embellishment. But in the older states, as wealth has 
accumulated, the country become populous, and society 
more fixed in its character, a return to those simple and 
fascinating enjoyments to be found in country life and 
rural pursuits, is witnessed on every side. And to this 
innate feeling, out of which grows a strong attachment to 
natal soil, we must look for a counterpoise to the great 
tendency towards constant change, and the restless spirit 
of emigration, which form part of our national character ; 
and which, though to a certain extent highly necessary to 
our national prosperity, are, on the other hand, opposed to 
social and domestic happiness. " In the midst of the 
continual movement which agitates a democratic com- 
munity," says the most philosophical writer who has yet 
discussed our institutions, " the tie which unites one 
generation to another is relaxed or broken ; every man 



PREFACE. IX 

readily loses the trace of the ideas of his forefathers^ or 
takes no care about them." 

The love of country is inseparably connected with the 
love of home. Whatever, therefore, leads man to assemble 
the comforts and elegancies of life around his habitation, 
tends to increase local attachments, and render domestic 
life more delightful ; thus not only augmenting his own 
enjoyment, but strengthening his patriotism, and making 
him a better citizen. And there is no employment or 
recreation which affords the mind greater or more 
permanent satisfaction, than that of cultivating the earth 
and adorning our own property. " God Almighty first 
planted a garden ; and, indeed, it is the purest of human 
pleasures," says Lord Bacon. And as the first man was 
shut out from the garden, in the cultivation of which no 
alloy was mixed with his happiness, the desire to return to 
it seems to be implanted by nature, more or less strongly, 
in every heart. 

In Landscape Gardening the country gentleman of 
leisure finds a resource of the most agreeable nature. 
While there is no more rational pleasure than that derived 
from its practice by him, who 

" Plucks life's roses in his quiet fields," 

the enjoyment drawn from it (unlike many other amuse- 
ments) is unembittered by the after recollection of pain 
or injury inflicted on others, or the loss of moral rectitude. 
In i-endering his home more beautiful, he not only con- 
tributes to the happiness of his own family, but improves 
the taste, and adds loveliness to the country at large. 
There is, perhaps, something exclusive in the tasie for 
some of the fine arts. A collection of pictures, for 
example, is comparatively shut up from the world, in the 
private gallery. But the sylvan and floral collections, — 
the groves and gardens, which surround the country 
residence of the man of taste, — are confined by no 
barriers narrower than the blue heaven above and 
around them. The taste and the treasures, gradually, but 
certainly, creep bejond the nominal boundaries of the 



PREFACE. 



estate, and re-appear in the pot of flowers in the window, 
or the luxuriant, blossoming vines which clamber over the 
porch of the humblest cottage by the way side. 

In the present volume I have sought, by rendering 
familiar to the reader most of the beautiful sylvan ma- 
terials of the art, and by describing their peculiar effects 
in Landscape Gardening, to encourage a taste among 
general readers. And 1 have also endeavored to place 
before the amateur such directions and guiding principles 
as, it is hoped, will assist him materially in laying out 
his grounds and arranging the general scenery of his 
residence. 

The lively interest of late manifested in Rural Architec- 
ture, and its close connexion with Landscape Gardening, 
have induced me to devote a portion of this work to the 
consideration of buildings in rural scenery. 

I take pleasure in acknowledging my obligations and 
returning thanks to my valued correspondent, J. C. Loudon, 
Esq., F. L. S., etc., of London, the most distinguished 
gardening author of the age, for the illustrations and 
description of the English Suburban Cottage in the 
Appendix; to the several gentlemen in this country who 
have kindly furnished me with plans or drawings of their 
residences ; and to A. J. Davis, Esq., of New York, and J 
Notman, Esq., of Philadelphia, architects, for architectui a] 
rawings and descriptions. 



PREFACE TO SIXTH EDITION. 



Although our advance in rural life has not attained, 
and may never reach, the extent mentioned b}'' Mr. Down- 
ing, in his account of his visit to Woburn Abbey, where 
he says, " there are 20,000 country houses in England, each 
larger than the President's house at Washington ;" j-et our 
progress has been very great — partly, perhaps, from the 
increasing discomfort and expense of our large cities, 
and the great facilities which our numerous railways and 
steamers offer to business persons to reside permanently 
in the country ; but more, let us hope, from an improving 
taste, and love for rural life, which is always one of tlie 
agreeable and graceful accompaniments of increasing 
civilization. 

As a country advances in age, she improves in a taste 
for all the elegant and artistic pursuits of life, which 
naturally follow in the train of wealth and refinement. 
The sword is turned into the pruning-hook, -while ■ ^^ ar ma 
cedunt togcBP 

If one could compare the extremely crude condition 
of our rural knowledge, upon the first appearance 
of this book, with the vast progress since made, botli 
in the useful and ornamental cultivation of the soil, 
it would seem difficult to realize that a nation could move 
with such giant strides. Still, though much has been 
done, much yet remains to do. Those who have already 
put their hand to the plough, do not desire to turn back, 
they wish only to know how to go on ; want of further 
information, like the cry of Ajax, 

" Give me to see — " 

pervades the whole land. 



\1) PKEFACE. 

"What shall I plant?" seems one of the great in- 
quiries, in attempting to answer which, the Editor of this 
New Edition has endeavored to give a list of such of the 
newer trees and shrubs as have come into notice within 
the past ten years, with such descriptions of their liabits 
and character as his own information, together with the 
experience of others (both, he regrets to say, very mea- 
gre), will enable him to give. 

With regard to the acclimatizing of Evergreens, he 
would have preferred to have had the experience of 
another year, in order to test still further certain varie- 
ties, as yet comparatively untried ; but perhaps some 
future edition may enable him to do this. 

In conclusion, he would beg to acknowledge the assist- 
ance he has derived, in the identification and classification 
of new and doubtful varieties, from Mr. Gordon's excel- 
lent work on " The Pinetum," and also from the very 
complete and thorough "Traite General des Coniferes," 
par M. Carriere. 

To those gentlemen, in this country, who have given 
him the result of their experience in acclimatizing Ever- 
greens, he desires also to make his acknowledgments. 

H. W. S. 

WODENETHE, FiSIlKILL LANDING, DuCHESS Co., 1 

New York, January, 1859. ) 



CONTENTS. 



SECTION I. 

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 



Objects of the art. Origin of the modern and natural style. Influence 
of the English poets and writers. Examples of the art abroad. Land- 
scape Gardening in North America, and examples now existing. 

SECTION II. 

BEAUTIES OF LANDSCAPE GARDENING, 

Capacities of the art. The beauties of the ancient style. The Beautiful 
and the Picturesque. Nature and principles of Landscape Gardening as 
an imitative art. The Production of Beautiful Landscape. Of Picturesque 
do. Simple beauty of the art. The principles of Unity, Harmony, and 
Varietv. 

SECTION in. 

WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. 

The beauty of trees in rural embellishments. Pleasure resulting from 
their cultivation. Plantations in the ancient style. In the modern style. 
Grouping trees. Arrangement and grouping in the Graceful school. In 
the Picturesque school. Illustrations in planting villa, ferme orn6e, and 
cottage grounds. General classification of trees as to forms, with leading 
characteristics of each class. 

SECTION IT. 

DECIDUOCS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 

The history and description of all the finest hardy deciduous trees. 
Remarks on their effects in Landscape Gardening, individually and in 
composition ; their cultivation, etc. 

SECTION T. 

EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 

The history and description of all the finest hardy evergreen trees. 
Remarks on their effects in Landscape Gardening, individually and in 
composition. Their cultivation, etc. 



Xiv CONTENTS. 

SECTION VI. 

VINES AND CLIIIBING PLANTS. 

Value of this kind of vegetation ; fine natural effects. KemarKS ou the 
proper mode of introducing vines. Beautiful effects of climbing plants 
in connection with buildings. 

SECTION VII. 

TREATMENT OF GROUND — FORMATION OF WALKS. 

Nature of operations on ground. Treatment of flowing and of irregular 
surfaces to heighten their expression. Of flats or level surfaces. Rocks 
as materials in landscape. Laying out roads and walks ; the approach. 
Rules by Repton. The drive and minor walks. The introduction of 
fences. Verdant hedges. 

SECTION VIII. 

TRE.\TMENT OF WATER, 

Beautiful effects of this element in nature. In what cases it is desirable 
to attempt the formation of artificial pieces of water. Regular forms 
unpleasing. Directions for the formation of ponds or lakes in the irreg- 
ular manner. Study of natural lakes. Islands. Planting the margin. 
Treatment of natural brooks and rivulets. Cascades and water-falls. 
Legitimate sphere of the art in this department. 

SECTION IX. 

LANDSCAPE OK KURAL ARCHITECTURE. 

Difference between a city and country house. The characteristic fea- 
tures of a country house. Examination of the leading principles in Rural 
Architecture. The harmonious union of buildings and scenery. The 
different styles. The Grecian style. Its defects for domestic purposes. 
The Roman style. The Italian style. Swiss style. The pointed or Gothic 
style. Castellated buildings. The Tudor mansion. The Elizabethan style. 
The old English cottage. Entrance lodges. 

SECTION X. 

EMBELLISHMENTS ; ARCniTECTUPJiL, RUSTIC, AND FLORAL. 

Value of a proper connection between the house and grounds. Beauty 
of the architectural terrace, and its application to villas and cottages. 
Use of vases of different descriptions. Architectural flower-garden. 
Irregular flower-garden. French flower-garden. English flower-garden. 
Mingled flower-garden. Selections of showy plants, flowering in succes- 
sion. Arrangement of the shrubbery. The conservatory and green- 
house. Open and covered seats. Pavilions. Prospect towers. Bridges. 
Rockwork. Fountains of various descriptions. Judicious introduction 
of decorations. 



CONTENTS. XV 



APPENDIX. 

Notes on transplanting trees. Reasons for frequent failures in removing 
large trees. Directions for performing this operation. Preparing trees 
for removal. Transplanting evergreens. 

On the treatment of Lawns. Use of machines for mowing the Lawn. 



SUPPLEMENT. 

SECTION L 

Progress of Landscape Gardening since Mr. Downing's death. Forma- 
tion of new places. Common errors. The Lawn. 

SECTION IL 

How to make a Country Place. Commencing without trees. Com- 
mencing in a wood. History of Wodenkthe. History of Welleslky. 
Italian scenery. 

SECTION III. 

The newer deciduous ornamental trees and shrubs. 

SECTION IV. 

The newer hall-hardy Evergreen trees and shrubs. Acclimatizing and 
employing them. Tabular view of Hardihood in different parts of the 
United States. 

SECTION V. 

Historical notices. Examples of Landscape Gardening, and Rural 
Architecture in the United States. 

SECTION VI. 

Historical notices continued. Rural Cemeteries. Central Park, New 
York. Llewellyn Park, New .Jersey. Clinton Park, etc. 



INDEX. 



LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. 



ENGRAVINGS ON 8 T E B L . 



Portrait of A T. Downing. Frontispiece. 

PLATE I. BltWHEWooD. Residence of Kobt. Donaldson, Esq 17 

II. WoDEXETHE, Eesidenee of H. W. Sargent, Esq 425 

III. Wblleblet. Eesidenee of II. II. llunnewell. Esq 444 

IV. French Partekee at "Wellesley ''48 

V. Italian Garden at Wellesley 452 

TI. Llewellyn Pare. Orange, N. J 568 



E N f R A V I N G 6 ON WOOD. 



PAfiE. 

Fig. 1. Tiew at II ^de Park 29 

2. Manor of £ivingston 29 

<J. iJontgomery Place 81 

6. Beavcrwick S5 

7. Eesi<lence of W. II. Aspin- 

wall 85 

S. Belmont 88 

9. Cottage of Mr. Dunn 88 

10. Eesidenee of Mr. Sheaff 42 

11. Eesidenee of Mrs. Camac.... 42 

13. Examide of the Beautiful.. . . 58 

14. Example of the Picturesque. 58 
32. The European Linden 143 

35. The Weeping Larch 242 

36. The Magnolia 242 

37. The Picea pectinat.i 257 

38. The Cedar of Lebanon 202 

iS. Eesidenee of Mr. Paulding.. .344 
49. Eesidenee of A. J. Downing. 344 
.-.0. Eesidenee of Mr. Eathbone.. 847 

51. Eesidenee of Mr. Lyon 347 

52. Mansion in Elizab. Stvle 347 

58. Residence of Ilev. E."Bolton. 847 



Fig. 54. Eesidenceof T.W.Ludlow. 853 
55. Residence of Washington 

Irving 853 

73. Conservatory at Montgom- 
ery Place 891 

88. View from Library, Wo- 

denethe 437 

89. View from Breakfast Room, 

Wodenethe 440 

90. View Across the Park, 

Wodenethe 44S 

91. The Dwarf Uorse Chestnut 459 

92. The Weepin? Elm 459 

93. The Weeping Juniper 503 

94. The Scaled Juniper 508 

9.\ Pinus p.itula 621 

OG. Torre va 521 

97. Eockwood 552 

101. View in Central P.\rk... . 663 

102. The Samc.jjroposed eifect. 563 

103. View of 'W ater Terrace in 

Central Park 565 

IW. Same, before improvement. 585 



engravings on 8 t o n b . 



Fig 98. Plan of Central Park 561 

99. Original Condition of the 

Grounds 561 

105. Entrance to Llewellyn 

Park 570 



Fig. 106. N. W. part of Llewellyn 

Park 570 

107. Arcade Cottace Grounds. . . 673 

108. Do. Working Plan... .573 



ESSAY ON LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



SECTION I. 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 



ObjccW of the Art. Sketch of tho rise and progress of the Modern style. Influence 
of the English poets and writers. Examples of the Art abroad. Landscape Garden- 
ing in North America, and examples now existing. 



" L'un a nos yeux presente 
D'un dessein regulier I'ordonnance imposante, 
Prete aux champs des beautes qu'ils ne connaissaient paa, 
D'une pompe etrangere embellit leur appas, 
Donne aux arbres des lois, aux ondes des entravee, 
Et, despote orgueilleux, brille entoure d'esclaves ; 
Son air est moins riant et plus majestueux 
L'autre, de la nature amant respectueux, 
L'orne sans la farder, traite avec indulgence 
Ses caprices charmants, sa noble negligence, 
Sa marche irreguliere, et fait naitre avec art 
Des beautes du dtsordre, et meme du hasard." 

Delillf. 




U R first, most 
endearing, and 
most sacred associations," says the amiable Mrs. Holland, 
"are connected with gardens; our most simple and most 



18 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

refined perceptions of beauty are combined with them.' 
And we may aad to this, that Landscape Gardening, which 
is an artistical combination of the beautiful in nature and 
art — an union of natural expression and harmonious culti- 
vation — is capable of affording us the highest and most in- 
tellectual enjo}.nent to be found in any cares or pleasures 
belonging to the soil. 

The development of the Beautiful is the end and aim of 
Landscape Gardening, as it is of all other fine arts. The 
ancients sought to attain this by a studied and elegant 
regularity of design in their gardens ; the moderns, by the 
creation or improvement of grounds which, though of limit- 
ed extent, exhibit a highly graceful or picturesque epitome 
of natural beauty. Landscape Gardening differs from gar- 
dening in its common sense, in embracing the whole scene 
immediately about a country house, which it softens and 
refines, or renders more spirited and striking by the aid of 
art. In it we seek to embody our ideal of a rural home ; 
not through plots of fruit trees, and beds of choice flowers, 
though these have their place, but by collecting and combin- 
ing beautiful forms in trees, surfaces of ground, buildings, 
and walks, in the landscape surrounding us. It is, in short, 
the Beautiful, embodied in a home scene. And we attain 
it by the removal or concealment of everything uncouth 
and discordant, and by the introduction and preservation of 
forms pleasing in their expression, their outlines, and their 
fitness for the abode of man. In the orchard, we hope to 
gratify the palate ; in the flower garden, the eye and the 
smell ; but in the landscape garden we appeal to that sense 
of the Beautiful and the Perfect, which is one of the high- 
est attributes of our nature. 

This embellishment of nature, which we call Landscape 



HISTORICAL NOTICES. 19 

Gardening, springs naturally from a love of country life> 
an attachment to a certain spot, and a desire to render 
that place attractive — a feeling which seems more or less 
strongly fixed in the minds of all men. But we should 
convey a false impression, were we to state that it may be 
applied with equal success to residences of every class and 
size, in the country. Lawn and trees, being its two essen- 
tial elements, some of the beauties of Landscape Gardening 
may, indeed, be shown wherever a rood of grass surface, 
and half a dozen trees are within our reach ; we may, even 
with such scanty space, have tasteful grouping, varied sur- 
face, and agreeably curved walks ; but our art, to appear 
to advantage, requires some extent of surface — its lines 
should lose themselves indefinitely, and unite agreeably and 
gradually with those of the surrounding country. 

In the case of lai'ge landed estates, its capabilities may 
be displayed to their full extent, as from fifty to five hun- 
dred acres may be devoted to a park or pleasure grounds. 
Most of its beauty, and all its charms, may, however, be 
enjoyed in ten or twenty acres, fortunately situated, and 
well treated ; and Landscape Gardening, in America, com- 
bined and working in harmony as it is with our fine 
scenery, is already beginning to give us results scarcely less 
beautiful than those produced by its finest efforts abroad. 
The lovely villa residences of our noble river and lake 
margins, when well treated — even in a few acres of taste- 
ful fore-ground, — seem so entirely to appropriate the whole 
adjacent landscape, and to mingle so sweetly in their out- 
lines with the woods, the valleys, and shores around them, 
that the effects are often truly enchanting. 

But if Landscape Gardening, in its proper sense, cannot 
be applied to the embellishment of the smallest cottage 



20 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

residences in the country, its principles may be studiea 
with advantage, even by him who has only three trees to 
plant for ornament ; and we hope no one will think his 
gromids too small, to feel willing to add something to the 
general amount of beauty in the country. If the possessor 
of the cottage acre would embellish in accordance with 
propriety, he must not, as we have sometimes seen, rendei 
the whole ridiculous by aiming at ambitious and costly em- 
bellishments ; but he will rather seek to delight us by the 
good taste evinced in the tasteful simplicity of the whole 
arrangement. And if the proprietors of our country villas, 
in their improvements, are more likely to run into any one 
error than another, we fear it will be that of too great a 
desire for display — too many vases, temples, and seats, — 
and too little purity and simplicity of general effect. 

The inquiring reader will perhaps be glad to have a 
glance at the history and progress of the art of tasteful 
gardening ; a recurrence to which, as well as to the historv 
of the fine arts, will aflbrd abundant proof that, in the first 
stage or infancy of all these arts, while the perception of 
their ultimate capabilities is yet crude and imperfect, man- 
kind has, in every instance, been completely satisfied with 
the mere exhibition of design or art. Thus in Sculpture 
the first statues were only attempts to imitate rudely the 
form of a human figure, or in painting, to represent that of 
a tree : the skill of the artist, in effecting an imitation suc- 
cessfully, being sufficient to excite the astonishment and 
admiration of those who had not yet made such advances 
as to enable them o appreciate the. superior beauty of 
expression. 

Landscape Gardening is, indeed, only a modern word, 
first coined, we believe, by Shenstone. 



HISTORICAL NOTICES. 



21 



The most distinguished English Landscape Gardeners 
of recent date, are the late Humphrey Kepton, who died in 
1818; and since him John Claudius Loudon better known 
in this country, as the celebrated gardening author. Repton's 
taste in Landscape gardening was cultivated and elegant, 
and many of the finest parks and pleasure grounds of 
England, at the present day, bear witness to the skill and 
harmony of his designs. His published works are full of 
instructive hints, and at Cobham Hall, one of the finest 
seats in Britain, is an inscription to his memory, by Lord 

Darnley. 

Mr. Loudon's* writings and labors in tasteful gardening, 
are too well known, to render it necessary that we should 
do more than allude to them here. Much of what is known 
of the art in this country undoubtedly is, more or less 
directly, to be referred to the influence of his published 
works. Although he is, as it seems to us, somewhat 
deficient as an artist in imagination, no previous author 
ever deduced, so clearly, sound artistical principles in Land- 
scape Gardening and Rural Architecture ; and fitness, good 
sense, and beauty, are combined with much unity of feeling 
in all his works. 

As the modern style owes its origin mainly to the 
English, so it has also been developed and carried to its 
greatest perfection in the British Islands. The law of 
primogeniture, which has there so long existed, in itself, 
contributes greatly to the continual improvement and 
embellishment of those vast landed estates, that remain 
perpetually in the hands of the same family. Magnificent 

* While we are revising the second edition, we regret deeply to learn the death 
of Mr. Loudon. His herculean labors as an author have at last destroyed him ; 
tnd in his death we lose one who has done more than any other person that 
«ver lived, to popularize, and render universal, a taste for Gardening and 
Domestic Architecture. 



22 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



buildings, added to by each succeeding generation, who 
often preserve also the older portions with the most 
scrupulous care ; wide spread parks, clothed with a thick 
velvet turf, which, amid their moist atmosphere, preserves 
during great part of the year an emerald greenness — 
studded with noble oaks and other forest trees which 
number centuries of growth and maturity ; these advan- 
tages, in the hands of the most intelligent and the 
wealthiest aristocracy in the world, have indeed made 
almost an entire landscape garden of " merry England." 
Among a multitude of splendid examples of these noble 
residences, we will only refer the reader to the celebrated 
Blenheim, the seat of the Duke of Marlborough, where 
the lake alone (probably the largest piece of artificial 
water in the world) covers a surface of two hundred acres : 
Chatsworth, the varied and magnificent seat of the Duke 
of Devonshire, where there are scenes illustrative of almost 
every style of the art : and Woburn Abbey, the grounds 
of which are fall of the choicest specimens of trees and 
plants, and where the park, like that of Ashbridge, 
Arundel Castle, and several other private residences in 
England, is only embraced within a circumference of fron 
ten to twenty miles. 

On the continent of Europe, though there are a multi- 
tude of examples of the modern style of landscape 
gardening, v/hich is there called the English or natural 
style, yet in the neighborhood of many of the capitals, 
especially those of the south of Europe, the taste for 
the geometric or ancient style of gardening still prevails 
to a considerable extent ; partially, no doubt, because that 
style admits, with more facility, of those classical and 
architectural accompaniments of vases, statues, busts, etc.. 



HISTORI04L NOTICES. 23 

the passion for which pervades a people rich in ancient and 
modex,-\ sculptural works of art. Indeed many of the 
garden^ on the continent are more striking from their 
numerous sculpturesque ornaments, interspersed with 
fountains and jet^-d'eau, than from the beauty or rarity 
of their vegetation, or from their arrangement. 

In the United States, it is highly improbable that we 
shall ever witness such splendid examples of landscape 
gardens as those abroad, to which we have alluded. Here 
the rights of man are held to be equal ; and if there are 
no enormous parks, and no class of men whose wealth is 
hereditary, there is, at least, what is more gratifying to 
the feehngs of the philanthropist, the almost entire absence 
of a very poor class in the country ; while w^e have, on 
the other hand, a large class of independent landholders, 
who are able to assemble around them, not only the useful 
and convenient, but the agreeable and beautiful, in country 
hfe. 

The number of individuals among us who possess wealth 
and refinement sufficient to enable them to enjoy the 
pleasures of a country life, and who desire in their private 
residences so much of the beauties of landscape gardening 
and rural embellishment as may be had without any 
enormous expenditure of means, is every day increasing. 
And although, until lately, a very meagre plan of laying 
out the grounds of a residence, was all that we could lay 
claim to, yet the taste for elegant rural improvements is 
advancing now so rapidly, that we have no hesitation in 
predicting that in half a century more, there will exist a 
greater number of beautiful villas and country seats of 
moderate extent, in the Atlantic States, than in any 
country in Europe, England alone excepted. With us, a 



24 LANDSCAPE GARDENINO. 

feeling, a taste, or an improvement, is contagious ; and 
once fairly appreciated and established in one portion of 
the country, it is disseminated with a celerity that is 
indeed wonderful, to every other portion. And though i 
is necessarily the case where amateurs of any art are 
more numerous than its professors, that there will be, in 
devising and carrying plans into execution, many specimens 
of bad taste, and perhaps a sufficient number of efforts to 
improve without any real taste whatever, still we are 
convinced the effect of our rural embellishments will in 
the end be highly agreeable, as a false taste is not likely 
to be a permanent one in a community where everything 
is so much the subject of criticism. 

With regard to the literature and practice of Landscape 
Gardening as an art, in North America, almost everything 
is yet before us, comparatively little having yet been 
done. Almost all the improvements of the grounds of our 
finest country residences, have been carried on under the 
direction of the proprietors themselves, suggested by their 
ovi'n good taste, in many instances improved by the study 
of European authors, or by a personal inspection of the 
finest places abroad. The only American work previously 
published which treats directly of Landscape Gardening, 
is the American Gardener s Calendar, by Bernard 
McMahon of Philadelphia. The only practitioner of the 
art, of any note, was the late M. Parmentier of Brooklyn, 
Long Island. 

M. Andre Parmentier was the brother of that celebrated 
horticulturist, the Chevalier Parmentier, Mayor of Enghien, 
Holland. He emigrated to this country about the year 
1824, and in the Horticultural Nurseries which he esta- 
blished at Brooklyn, he gave a specimen of the natural 



HISTORICAL NOTICES. 



25 



btyie of laying out grounds, combined with a scientific 
arrangement of plants, which excited pubHc curiosity, and 
contributed not a Kttle to the dissemination of a taste fox 
the natural mode of landscape gardening. 

During M. Parmentier's residence on Long Island, he 
was almost constantly applied to for plans for laying out 
the grounds of country seats, by persons in various parts 
of the Union, as well as in the immediate proximity of 
New York. In many cases • he not only surveyed the 
demesne to be • improved, but furnished the plants and 
trees necessary to carry out his designs. Several plans 
were prepared by him for residences of note in the South- 
ern States ; and two or three places in Upper Canada, 
especially near Montreal, were, we believe, laid out by his 
own hands and stocked from his nursery grounds. In his 
periodical catalogue, he arranged the hardy trees and 
shrubs that flourish in this latitude in classes, according to 
their height, etc., and published a short treatise on the 
superior claims of the natural, over the formal or geome- 
tric style of laying out grounds. In short, we consider M 
Parmentier's labors and examples as having effected, 
directly, far more for landscape gardening in America, 
than those of any other individual whatever. 

The introduction of tasteful gardening in this country 
is, of course, of a very recent date. But so long ago as 
from 25 to 50 years, there were several country residences 
highly remarkable for extent, elegance of arrangement, 
and the highest order and keeping. Among these, we 
desire especially to record here the celebrated seats of 
Chancellor Livingston, Wm. Hamilton, Esq., Theodore 
Lyman, Esq., and Judge Peters. 

Woodlands, the seat of the Hamilton family, near 



•26 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Philadelphia, was, so long ago as 1805, highly celebrateQ 
for its gardening beauties. The refined taste and the 
wealth of its accomplished owner, were freely lavished in 
its improvement and embellishment ; and at a time when 
the introduction of rare exotics was attended with a vast 
deal of risk and trouble, the extensive green-houses and 
orangeries of this seat contained all the richest treasures 
of the exotic flora, and among other excellent gardeners 
employed, was the distinguished botanist Pursh, whose 
enthusiastic taste in his favorite science was promoted and 
aided by Mr. Hamilton. The extensive pleasure grounds 
were judiciously planted, singly and in groups, with a 
great variety of the finest species of trees. The attention 
of the visitor to this place is now arrested by two very 
large specimens of that curious tree, the Japanese Ginko 
(Salisburia), GO or 70 feet high, perhaps the finest in 
Europe or America, by the noble magnolias, and the rich 
park-like appearance of some of the plantations of the 
finest native and foreign oaks. From the recent un- 
healthiness of this portion of the Schuylkill, Woodlands 
has fallen into decay, but there can be no question that it 
was, for a long time, the most tasteful and beautiful 
residence in America. 

The seat of the late Judge Peters, about five miles from 
Philadelphia, was, 30 years ago, a noted specimen of the 
ancient school of landscape gardening. Its proprietor had 
a most extended reputation as a scientific agriculturist, 
and his place was also no less remarkable for the design 
and culture of its pleasure-grounds, than for the excellence 
of its farm. Long and stately avenues, with vistas 
terminated by obelisks, a garden adorned with marble 
vases, busts, and statues, and pleasure grounds filled with 



HISTORICAL NOTICES. 27 

the rarest trees and shrubs, were conspicuous features 
here. Some of the latter are now so remarkable as to 
attract strongly the attention of the visitor. Among 
them, is the chestnut planted by Washington, which 
produces the largest and finest fruit ; very large hollies ; 
and a curious old box-tree much higher than the mansion 
near which it stands. But the most striking feature now, 
is the still remaining gr<rind old avenue of hemlocks (Abies 
canadensis). Many of these trees, which were planted 
100 years ago, are now venerable specimens, ninety feet 
high, whose huge trunks and wide spread branches are in 
many cases densely wreathed and draped with masses of 
English Ivy, forming the most picturesque sylvan objects 
we ever beheld. 

Lemon Hill, half a mile above the Fairmount water- 
works of Philadelphia, was, 20 years ago, the most perfect 
specimen of the geometric mode in America, and since its 
destruction by the extension of the city, a few years since, 
there is nothing comparable with it, in that style, among 
us. All the symmetry, uniformity, and high art of the 
old school, were displayed here in artificial plantations, 
formal gardens with treUises, grottoes, spring-houses, 
temples, statues, and vases, with numerous ponds of water, 
jets-d'eau, and other water-works, parterres and an exten- 
sive range of hothouses. The effect of this garden was 
brilliant and striking ; its position, on the lovely banks of 
the Schuylkill, admirable ; and its liberal proprietor, Mr, 
Pratt, by opening it freely to the public, greatly increased 
the popular taste in the neighborhood of that city. 

On the Hudson, the show place of the last age was the 
still interesting Clermont, then the residence of Chancellor 
Livingston. Its level or gently undulating lawn, four or 



28 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

five miles in length, the rich native woods, and the long 
vistas of planted avenues, added to its fine water view, 
rendered this a noble place. The mansion, the green- 
houses, and the gardens, show something of the French 
taste in design, which Mr. Livingston's residence abroad, 
at the time when that mode was popular, no doubt, led 
him to adopt. The finest yellow locusts in America are 
now standing in the pleasure-grounds here, and the 
gardens contain many specimens of fruit trees, the first of 
their sorts introduced into the Union. 

Waltham House, about nine miles from Boston, was, 25 
years ago, one of the oldest and finest places, as regards 
Landscape Gardening. Its owner, the late Hon. T, 
Lyman, was a highly-accomplished man, and the grounds 
at Waltham House bear witness to a refined and elegant 
taste in rural improvement. A fine level park, a mile in 
length, enriched with groups of English limes, elms, and 
oaks, and rich masses of native wood, watered by a fine 
stream and stocked with deer, were the leading features 
of the place at that time ; and this, and Woodlands, were 
the two best specimens of the modern ■ style, as Judge 
Peters' seat. Lemon Hill, and Clermont, were of the an- 
cient style, in the earliest period of the history of Land- 
scape Gardening among us. 

There is no part of the Union where the taste in Land- 
scape Gardening is so far advanced, as on the middle por- 
tion of the Hudson. The natural scenery is of the finest 
character, and places but a mile or two apart often 
possess, from the constantly varying forms of the water, 
shores, and distant hills, widely different kinds of home 
landscape and distant view. Standing in the grounds of 
some of the finest of these seats, the eye beholds only the 




Fiii. 1. — View in tlio (iroumls at llycU' Park 




^^^*'A 



Fui. •-'.— Tlip Manor of Liviiiffston. 



HISTORICAL NOTICES. 29 

soft foreground of smooth lawn, the rich groups of trees 
shutting out all neighboring tracts, the lake-like expanse 
of water, and, closing the distance, a fine range of wooded 
mountain. A residence here of but a hundred acres, so 
fortunately are these disposed by nature, seems to appro- 
priate the whole scenery round, and to be a thousand in 
extent. 

At the present time, our handsome villa residences are 
becoming every day more numerous, and it would require 
much more space than our present limits, to enumerate 
all the tasteful rural country places within our knowledge, 
many of which have been newly laid out, or greatly im- 
proved within a few years. But we consider it so im- 
portant and instructive to the novice in the art of Land- 
scape Gardening to examine, personally, country seats of 
a highly tasteful character, that we shall venture to refer 
the reader to a few of those which have now a reputation 
among us as elegant country residences. 

Hyde Park, on the Hudson, formerly the seat of the late 
Dr. Hosack, now of W. Langdon, Esq., has been justly 
celebrated as one of the finest specimens of the modern 
style of Landscape Gardening in America. Nature has, 
indeed, done much for this place, as the grounds are finely 
varied, beautifully watered by a lively stream, and the 
views are inexpressibly striking from the neighborhood of 
the house itself, including, as they do, the noble Hudson 
for sixty miles in its course, through rich valleys and bold 
mountains. (See Fig. 1.) But the efforts of art are not 
'jnworthy so rare a locality ; and while the native woods, 
and beautifully undulating surface, are preserved in their 
original state, the pleasure-grounds, roads, walks, drives 
and new plantations, have been laid out in such a judi- 



30 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

cious manner as to heighten the charms of nature. Large 
and costly hot-houses were erected by Dr. Hosack, with 
also entrance lodges at two points on the estate, a fine 
bridge over the stream, and numerous pavilions and seats 
commanding extensive prospects ; in short, nothing was 
spared to render this a complete residence. The park, 
which at one time contained some fine deer, afforded a de- 
liffhtful drive within itself, as the whole estate numbered 
about seven hundred acres. The plans for laying out the 
grounds were furnished by Parmentier, and architects from 
New York were employed in designing and erecting the 
buildings. For a long time, this was the finest seat in 
America, but there are now many rivals to this claim. 

The Manor of Livingston, lately the seat of Mrs. Mai-}- 
Livingston (but now of Jacob Le Roy, Esq.), is seven 
miles east of the city of Hudson, The mansion stands 
in the midst of a fine park, rising gradually from the 
level of a rich inland country, and commanding prospects 
for sixty miles around. The park is, perhaps, the most 
remarkable in America, for the noble simplicity of its 
character, and the perfect order in which it is kept. The 
turf is, everywhere, short and velvet-like, the gravel-roads 
scrupulously fiim and smooth, and near the house are the 
largest and most superb evergreens. The mansion is one 
of the chastest specimens of the Grecian style, and there 
is an air of great dignity about the whole demesne. 

Blithewood, formerly the seat of R. Donaldson, Esq., 
(now John Bard, Esq.), near Earrytown, on the Hudson, 
is one of the most charming villa residences in the 
Union. The natural scenery here, is nowhere sur- 
passed in its enchanting union of softness and dignity 
— the river being four miles wide, its placid bosom 
/jroken only by islands and gleaming sails, and the horizon 



'< IS 




HISTORICAL NOTICES. 31 

grandly closing in with the tall blue summits of me distant 
Kaatskills. The smiling, gently varied lawn is studded 
with groups and masses of fine forest and ornamental 
trees, beneath which are walks leading in easy curves to 
rustic seats, and summer houses placed in secluded spots, 
or to openings affording most loveiy prospects. (See 
Frontispiece.) In various situations near the house and 
upon the lawn, sculptured vases of Maltese stone are also 
disposed in such a manner as to give a refined and classic 
air to the grounds. 

As a pendant to this graceful landscape, there is within 
the grounds scenery of an opposite character, equally wild 
and picturesque — a fine, bold stream, fringed with woody 
banks, and dashing over several rocky cascades, thirty or 
forty feet in height, and falling altogether a hundred feet 
in a distance of half a mile. There are also, within the 
grounds, a pretty gardener's lodge, in the rural cottage 
style, and a new entrance lodge by the gate, in the 
bracketed mode ; in short, we can recall no place of 
moderate extent, where nature and tasteful art are both 
so harmoniously combined to express grace and elegance. 

Montgomery Place, the residence of Mrs. Edward 
Livingston, which is also situated on the Hudson, near 
Barrytown, deserves a more extended notice than our 
present limits allow, for it is, as a whole, nowhere sur- 
passed in America, in point of location, natural beauty, or 
the landscape gardening charms which it exhibits. 

It is one of our oldest improved country seats, having 
been originally the residence of Gen. Montgomery, the hero 
of Quebec. On the death of his widow it passed into the 
hands of her brother, Edward Livingston, Esq., the late 
minister to France, and up to the present moment has 



32 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



always received the most tasteful and judicious treat' 
•iient. 

The lover of the expressive in nature, or the beautiful in 
art, will find here innumerable subjects for his study. 
The natural scenery in many portions approaches the cha- 
racter of grandeur, and the foreground of rich woods and 
lawns, stretching out on all sides of the mountain, completes 
a home landscape of dignified and elegant seclusion, rarely 
surpassed in any country. 

Among the fine features of this estate are the wilder- 
ness, a richly wooded and highly picturesque valley, filled 
with the richest growth of trees, and threaded with dark, 
intricate, and mazy walks, along v.hich are placed a 
4^^.,^5^\^V r-- variety of rustic 

seats (Fig. 4). 
This valley is 
musical with the 
'^Gund of water- 
lalis, of which 
there are severai 
fine ones in th> 
bold impetuous 
'^t^eam which 
finds its course 
^ __^_ thiough the low- 

I.Fig. 4. One 01 me Rustic Seats at Jiomgomery i-iace.j ^1 pai I 01 me 

wilderness. Near the further end of the valley is a beauti- 
ful lake (Fig. 5), half of which lies cool and dark under the 
shadow of tall trees, while the other half gleams in the 
npen sunlight. 

In a part of the lawn, near the house, yet so surrounded 
by a dark setting of trees and shrubs as to form a rich 




HISTORICAL NOTICES. oo 

picture by itself, is one of the most perfect flower gardens 
in the country, laid out in the arabesque manner, and glow- 
ing with masses of the gayest colors — each bed being com- 
posed wholly of a single hue. A large conservatory, an 
exotic garden, an arboretum, etc., are among the features 
of interest in this admirable residence. Including a drivp 
throuo-h a fine bit of natural wood, south of the mansion, 
there are five miles of highly varied and picturesque pri- 
vate roads and walks, through the pleasure-grounds of 
Montgomery Place. 




[I'ig. 5. The Lake at Montgomery Place] 



EUersUe is the seat of William Kelly, Esq. It is three 
miles below Rhinebeck. It comprises over six hundred 
acres, and is one of our finest examples of high keeping 
and good management, both in an ornamental and an 
agricultural point of \\e\\. The house is conspicuously 
placed on a commanding natural terrace, w"ith a fair fore- 
ground of park surface below it, studded with beautiful 
groups of elms and oaks, and a very fine reach of river and 



34 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

distant hills. This is one of the most celebrdted places on 
the Hudson, and there are few that so well pay tne lover 
of improved landscape for a visit. 

Just below Ellerslie are the fine mansion and pleasing 
grounds of Wm. Emmet, Esq.,^ — the former a stone edifice, 
in the castellated style, and the latter forming a most 
agreeable point on the margin of the river. 

The seat of Mrs. Gardiner Howland, near ISTevv Ham- 
burgh, is not only beautiful in situation, but is laid out 
with great care, and is especially remarkable for the 
many rare trees and shrubs collected in its grounds. 

Wodenethe, near Fishkill landing, is the seat of H. W. 
Sargent, Esq., and is a bijou full of interest for the lover 
of rural beauty ; abounding in rare trees, shrubs, and 
plants, as well as vases, and objects of rural embeli'sli- 
ment of all kinds. 

Kenwood, formerly the residence of J. Kathbone, Esq., 
is one mile south of Albany. Ten years ago this spot. was a 
wild and densely wooded hill, almost inaccessible. With 
great taste and industry Mr. Rathbone has converted it 
into a country residence of much picturesque beauty, 
erected in the Tudor style, one of the best villas in the 
country, with a gate-lodge in the same mode, and laid out 
the grounds with remarkable skill and good taste. There 
are about 1200 acres in this estate, and pleasure grounds, 
forcing houses, and gardens, are now flourishing where ali 
was so lately in the rudest state of nature ; while, by the 
judicious preservation of natural wood, the effect of a long 
cultivated demesne has been given to the whole. 

The Manor House of the " Patroon" (as the eldest son 
of the Van Rensselaer family is called) is in the northern 
suburbs of the city of Albany. The mansion, greatly 




Fig. C— Beaver wyck, the Scat of Wm. V. Van Eensselaer, Es.j. 




Fifi. 7.— (_'otta;;c Uc-MUncc «\ Wm. 11. A.-iiiinviill, Es(|. 



HLSrORICAL NOTICES. 35 

enlarged and improved a few years since, from tlie designs 
of Upjohn, is one of the largest and most admirable in all 
respects, to be found in the country, and the pleasure- 
grounds in the rear of the house are tasteful and beau- 
tiful. 

Beaverwyck, a little north of Albany, on the opposite 
bank of the rivei-, was formerly the seat of Wm. P. Yan 
Rensselaer, Esq. The whole estate is ten or twelve miles 
square, including the village of Bath on the river shore, 
and a large farming district. The home residence em- 
braces several hundred acres, with a large level lawn, 
bordered by highly varied surface of hill and dale. The 
mansion, one of the first class, is newly erected from the 
plans of Mr. Diaper, and in its interior — its hall with 
mosaic floor of polished woods, its marble staircase, 
frescoed apartments, and spacious adjoining conservatory 
■ — is perhaps the most splendid in the Union. The grounds 
are yet newly laid out, but with much judgment ; and six 
or seven wzzYes of winding gravelled roads and walks have 
been formed — their boundaries now leading over level 
meadows, and now winding through w^oody dells. The 
drives thus afforded, are almost unrivalled in extent and 
variety, and give the stranger or guest, an opportunity of 
seeing the near and distant views to the best advantage. 

At Tarrytown, is the cottage residence of Washington 
Irving, which is, in location and accessories, almost the 
beau ideal of a cottage ornee. The charming manner in 
which the wild foot-paths, in the neighborhood of this cot- 
tage, are conducted among the picturesque dells and banks, 
is precisely what one would look for here. A little below, 
Mr, Sheldon's cottage (now Mr. Hoag's), with its pretty 
lawn and its chnrniing brook, is one of tlie l)est specimens 






Ob LANDSCAPE GAKDENING. 

of this kind of residence on the river. At Hastings, four 
or five miles south, is the agreeable seat of Robt. B. Min- 
turn, Esq. 

About twelve miles from New York, on the Sound, is 
Hunter s Island, the seat of John Hunter, Esq., a place of 
much simplicity and dignity of character. The whole 
island may be considered an extensive park carpeted with 
soft lawn, and studded with noble trees. The mansion is 
simple in its exterior, but internally, is filled with rich 
treasures of art. The seat of James Munroe, Esq., on the 
East river in this neighborhood, abounds with beautiful 
trees, and many other features of interest. 

The Cottage residence of WiUiam H. Aspinwall, Esq., on 
Staten Island, is a highly picturesque specimen of Land- 
scape Gardening. The house is in the English cottage 
style, and from its open lawn in front, the eye takes in a 
wide view of the ocean, the Narrows, and the blue hills of 
Neversink. In the rear of the cottage, the surface is 
much broken and varied, and finely wooded and planted. 
In improving this picturesque site, a nice sense of the 
charm of natural expression has been evinced ; and the 
sudden variations from smooth open surface, to wild 
wooden banks, with rocky, moss-covered flights of steps, 
strike the stranger equally with surprise and delight. A 
charming greenhouse, a knotted flower-garden, and a 
pretty, rustic moss-house, are among the interesting points 
of this spirited place. (See Fig. 7.) 

The seat of the Wadsworth family, at Geneseo, is the 
finest in the interior of the state of New York. Nothing. 
indeed, can well be more magnificent than the meadow park 
at Geneseo. It is more than a thousand acres in extent, 
lying on each side of the Genesee river, and is filled with 
thousands of the noblest oaks and elms, many of which, but 



HISTORICAL NOTICES 87 

more especially the oaks, are such trees as we see in the 
pictures of Claude, or our own Durand ; richly developed, 
their trunks and branches grand and majestic, their heads 
full of breadth and grandeur of outline. 
These oaks, distributed over a nearly level surface, with 
the trees disposed either singly or in the finest groups, as 
if most tastefully planted centuries ago, are solely the work 
of nature ; and yet so entirely is the whole like the 
grandest planted park, that it is difficult to believe thai 
all is not the work of some master of art, and intended fox 
the accompaniment of a magnificent residence. Some of 
the trees are five or six hundred years old. 

In Connecticut, Monte Video, the seat of Daniel Wads- 
worth, Esq., near Hartford; is worthy of commendation, as 
it evinces a good deal of beauty in its grounds, and is one 
of the most tasteful in the state. The residence of James 
Hillhouse, Esq., near New-Haven, is a pleasing specimen 
of the simplest kind of Landscape Gardening, where grace- 
ful forms of trees, and a gently sloping surface of grass, 
are the principal features. The villa of Mr. Whitney 
near New-Haven, is one of the most tastefully managed in 
the state. In Maine, the most remarkable seat, as respects 
landscape gardening and architecture, is that of Mr. Gar- 
diner, of Gardiner. 

The environs of Boston are more highly cultivated than 
Jiose of any other city in North America. There are here 
whole rural neighborhoods of pretty cottages and villas, ad- 
mirably cultivated, and, in many cases, tastefully laid out 
and planted. The character of even the finest of these 
places is, perhaps, somewhat suburban, as compared with 
those of the Hudson river, but we regard them as furnish- 



o8 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

ing admirable hints for a class of residence likely to become 
more numerous than any other in this country — the taste 
ful suburban cottage. The owner of a small cottage resi- 
dence may have almost every kind of beauty and enjoy- 
ment in his grounds that the largest estate will afford, so 
far as regards the interest of trees and plants, tasteful ar- 
rangement, recreation, and occupation. Indeed, we have 
little doubt that he, who directs personally the curve of 
every walk, selects and plants every shrub and tree, and 
watches with solicitude every evidence of beauty and pro- 
gress, succeeds in extracting from his tasteful grounds of 
half a dozen acres, a more intense degree of pleasure, than 
one who is only able to direct and enjoy, in a general 
sense, the arranoiement of a vast estate. 

Belmont, the seat of J. P. Gushing, Esq., is a residence 
of more note than any other near Boston ; but this is, 
chiefly, on account of the extensive ranges of glass, the 
forced fruits, and the high culture of the gardens. A new 
and spacious mansion has recently been erected here, and 
the pleasure-grounds are agreeably varied with fine groups 
and masses of trees and shrubs on a pleasing lawn 
(Fig. 8.) 

The seat of Col. Perkins, at Brookline, is one of the 
most interesting in this neighborhood. The very beautiful 
lawn here, abounds with exquisite trees, finely disposed ; 
among them, some larches and Norway firs, with many 
•other rare trees of uncommon beauty of form. At a short 
distance is the villa residence of Theodore Lyman, Esq., 
remarkable for the unusually fine avenue of Elms leading 
to the house, and for the beautiful architectural taste dis- 
player' in the dwelling itself The seat of the Hon. John 




Fifi. S._r,(>lni(uit Place, near Boston, tlie Seat oi .1. P. Gushing, Esq. 




I'lK. '.).— Mr. Dunns CMltasrc Moiiul llclly. N. •!. 



HISTORICAL NOTICES. 



39 



Lowell, at Roxbmy, possesses also many interesting gar- 
dening features.* 

Pine Bank, the Perkins es.'ate, on the border of 
Jamaica lake, is one of the most beautiful residences 
near Boston. The natural surface of the ground is ex- 
ceedingly flowing and graceful, and it is varied by two or 
three singular little dimples, or hollows, which add to its 
effect. The perfect order of the grounds ;.the beauty of 
the walks, sometimes skirting the smooth open lawn, en- 
riched with rare plants and shrubs, and then winding by 
the shadowy banks of the water ; the soft and quiet cha- 
racter of the lake itself,— its margin richly fringed with 
trees, which conceal here and there a pretty cottage, its 
firm clean beach of gravel, and its water of crystal purity ; 
all these features make thi.i place a little gem of natural 

* We Americans are proverbially impatient of delay, and a few years in 
prospect appear an endless futmity. So much is this the feeling with many, 
that we verily believe there are hundreds of our country places, which owe 
their bareness and destitution of foliage to the idea, so common, that it requires 
" an age" for forest trees to " grow up." 

The middle-aged man hesitates about the good of planting what he imagines 
he shall never see arriving at maturity, and even many who are younger, con- 
ceive that it requires more than an ordmary lifetime to rear a fine wood of 
planted trees. About two years since, we had the pleasure of visiting the seat 
of the late Mr. Lowell, whom we found in a green old age, still enjoying, with 
the enthusiasm of youth, the pleasures of Horticulture and a country life. For 
the encouragement of those who are ever complaining of the tardy pace with 
which the growth of trees advances, we will here record that we accompanied 
Mr. L. through a belt of fine woods (skirting part of his residence), nearly half 
a mile in length, consisting of almost all our finer hardy trees, many of them 
apparently full grown, the whole of which had been planted by him when he 
was thhty-two years old. At that time, a solitary elm or two were ahnost 
the cnly trees upon his estate. We can hardly conceive a more rational source 
ofpride or enjoyment, than to be able thus to walk, in the decline of years, 
beneath the shadow of umbrageous woods and groves, planted by our own 
hands, and whose growth has become almost identified with our own pro- 
gress and existence. 



40 LA.\DSCAPE GARDENING. 

and artistical harmony, and beauty. Mr. Perkins has just 
rebuilt the house, in the style of a French maison de cam- 
pagne ; and Pine BanK is now adorned with a most 
complete residence in the latest continental taste, from 
the designs of M. Lemoulnier. 

On the other side of the lake is the cottage of Thomas 
Lee, Esq. Enthusiastically fond of botany, and gardening 
in all its departments, Mr. Lee has here formed a residence 
of as much variety and interest as we ever saw in so 
moderate a compass — about 20 acres. It is, indeed, not 
only a most instructive place to the amateur of landscape 
gardening, but to the naturalist and lover of plants. Every 
shrub seems placed precisely in the soil and aspect it likes 
best, and native and foreign Rhododendrons, Kalmias, and 
other rare shrubs, are seen here in the finest condition. 
There is a great deal of variety in the surface here, and 
while the lawn-front of the house has a polished and 
graceful air, one or two other portions are quite picturesque . 
Near the entrance gate is an English oak, only fourteen 
years planted, now forty feet high. 

The whole of this neighborhood of Brookline is a kind 
of landscape garden, and there is nothing in America, of 
the sort, so inexpressibly charming as the lanes which lead 
from one cottage, or villa, to another. No animals are 
allowed to run at large, and the open gates, with tempting 
vistas and glimpses under the pendent boughs, give it quite 
an Arcadian air of rural freedom and enjoyment. These 
lanes are clothed with a profusion of trees and wild shrub- 
bery, often almost to the carriage tracks, and curve and 
wind about, in a manner quite bewildering to the stranger 
vvho attempts to thread them alone ; and there are more 
hints here for the lover of the picturesque in lanes, than 



HISTORICAL NOTICES. 41 

we ever saw assembled together in so small a com- 
pass. 

In the environs of New Bedford are many beautiful resi- 
dences. Among these, we desire particularly to notice the 
residence of James Arnold, Esq. There is scarcely a small 
place in New England, where the pleasure-grounds are so 
full of variety, and in such perfect order and keeping, as at 
this charming spot ; and its winding walks, open bits of 
lawn, shrubs and plants grouped on turf, shady bowers, 
and rustic seats, all most agreeably combined, render this 
a very interesting and instructive suburban seat. (Fig. 11.) 
In New Jersey, the grounds of the Count de Survilliers, 
at Bordentown, were very extensiv^e; and although the sui'- 
face is mostly flat, it has been well varied by extensive 
plantations. At Mount Holly, about twenty miles from 
Camden, is Mr. Dunn's unique, semi-oriental cottage, with 
a considerable extent of pleasure ground, newly planted. 
after the designs of Mr. Notman. (Fig. 9.) 

About Philadelphia there are several very interesting 
seats on the banks of the Delaware and Schuylkill, and 
the district between these two rivers. 

The country scat of George Sheaff, Esq., one of the most 
remarkable in Pennsylvania, in many respects, is twelve 
miles north of Philadelphia. The house is a large and re- 
spectable mansion of stone, surrounded by pleasure-grounds 
and plantations of fine evergreen and deciduous trees. The 
conspicuous ornament of the grounds, however, is a mag- 
nificent white oak, of enormous size, whose wide stretching 
branches, and grand head, give an air of dignity to the 
whole place. (Fig. 10.) Among the sylvan features here, 
most interesting, are also the handsome evergreens, chiefly 
Balsam or Balm of Gilead firs, some of which are now 



42 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

much higher than the mansion. These trees were planted 
by Mr. Sheaft' twenty-two years ago, and were then so 
small, that they were brought by him from Philadelphia, 
at various times, in his carriage — a circumstance highly 
encouraging to despairing planters, when we reflect how 
comparatively slow growing is this tree. This whole es- 
tate is a striking example of science, skill, and taste, 
appHed to a country seat, and there are few in the Union, 
taken as a whole, superior to it.* 

Cottage residence of Mrs. Camac. This is one of the 
most agreeable places within a few miles of Philadelphia. 
The house is a picturesque cottage, in the rural gothic 
style, with very charming and appropriate pleasure grounds, 
comprising many groups and masses of large and finely 
grown trees, interspersed with a handsome collection of 
shrubs and plants ; the whole very tastefully arranged. 
(Fig. 11.) The lawn is prettily varied in surface, and 
there is a conservatory attached to the house, in v/hich the 
plants in pots are hidden in beds of soft green moss, and 
which, in its whole effect and management,,is more tasteful 
and elegant than. any plant house, connected with a dwell- 
ing, that we remember to have seen. 

* The farm is 300 acres in extent, and, in the time of De Witt Chnton, was 
pronounced by him tlie model farm of the United States. At the present time 
we know nothing superior to it ; and Capt. Barclay, in his agricultural tour, saya 
It was the only instance of regular, scientific system of husbandry in the Eng- 
lish manner, he saw in America. Indeed, the large and regular fields, filled 
with luxuriant crops, everywhere of an exact evenness of growth, and every- 
where free from weeds of any sort ; the perfect system of manuring and cul- 
ture ; the simple and complete fences ; the fine stock ; the very spacious barns, 
every season newly whitewashed internally and externally, paved with wood, 
and as clean as a gentleman's stable (with stalls to fatten 90 head of cattle) ; 
these, and the masterly way in which the whole is managed, both as regards 
culture and profit, render this estate one of no common interest in an agricul- 
tural, as well as ornamental point of view. 




Fk;. 10.— Tlie Seat of Gcorgo SlicafT, Escj. 




Fni. II.— Mrs. Caiiiiic's RosiiU'ii('(\ 



HISTORICAL NOTICES. 4o 

Stenton, near German town, four miles from Philadelphia, 
is a fine old place, with many pictm'esque features. The 
farm consists of 700 acres, almost without division fences — 
admirably managed — and remarkable for its grand old 
avenue of the hemlock spruce, 110 years old, leading to a 
family cemetery of much sylvan beauty. There is a large 
and excellent old mansion, with paved halls, built in 1731, 
which is preserved in its original condition. This place 
was the seat of the celebrated Logan, the friend of William 
Penn, and is now owned by his descendant, Albanus Logan. 

The villa residence of Alexander Brown, Esq., is situated 
on the Delaware, a few miles from Philadelphia. There 
is here a good deal of beauty, in the natural style, made up 
chiefly by lawn and forest trees. A pleasing drive through 
plantations of 25 years' growth, is one of the most interest- 
ing features — and there is much elegance and high keeping 
n the grounds. 

Below Philadelphia, the lover of beautiful places will 
find a good deal to admire in the country seat of John R 
Latimer, Esq., near Wilmington, which enjoys the reputa 
lion of being the finest in Delaware. The place has all 
the advantages of high keeping, richly stocked gardens and 
conservatories, and much natural beauty, heightened by 
judicious planting, arrangement, and culture. 

At the south are many extensive country residences re- 
markable for trees of unusual grandeur and beauty, among 
which the live oak is very conspicuous ; but they are, in 
general, wanting in that high keeping and care, which is 
so essential to the charm of a landscape garden. 

Of smaller villa residences, suburban chiefly, there ace 
great numbers, springing up almost by magic, in the bor- 
ders of our towns and cities. Though the possessors of 



44 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

these can scarcely hope to introduce anything approaching 
to a hmdscape garden style, in laying out their limited 
grounds, still they may be greatly benefited by an ac- 
quaintance with the beauties and the pleasures of this 
species of rural embellishment. When we are once master 
of the principles, and aware of the capabilities of an art, 
we are able to infuse an expression of tasteful design, or 
an air of more correct elegance, even into the most humble 
works, and with very limited means. 

While w^e shall endeavor, in the following pages, to give 
such a view of modern Landscape Gardening, as will enable 
the improver to proceed with his fascinating operations, in 
embellishing the country residence, in a practical mode, 
based upon what are now generally received as the correct 
principles of the art, we would desire the novice, after 
making himself acquainted with all that can be acquired 
from written works within his reach, to strengthen his taste 
and add to his knowledge, by a practical inspection of the 
best country seats among us. In an infant state of society, 
in regard to the fine arts, much will be done in violation of 
good taste ; but here, where nature has done so much for 
us, there is scarcely a large country residence in the Union, 
from which useful hints in Landscape Gardening may not 
be taken. And in nature, a group of trees, an accidental 
pond of water, or some equally simple object, may form a 
study more convincing to -the mind of a true admirer of 
natural beauty, than the most carefully drawn plan, or the 
most elaborately written description. 



BEAUTIES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE ART. 45 



SECTION II. 

BEAUTIES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE ART. 

Capacities of tlie art. The beauties of the ancient style. The modern style. The Beauti- 
ful and the Picturesque: their distinctive characteristics. Illustrations drawn from 
Nature and Painting. Nature and principles of Landscape Gardening as an Imitative 
art. Distinction between the Beautiful and Picturesque. The principles of Unity 
Harmony, and Variety. 

" Here Nature in her unaffected dresse, 
Plaited with valhes and imbost with hills, 
Enchast with silver streams, and fringed with woods 
Sits lovely." — 

Chambeklayne. 

" II est des soins plus doux, un art plus enchanteur. 
C'cst peu de charmer I'ceil, il faut parler au ccEur. 
Avez-vous done connu ces rapports invisibles, 
Des corps inanimes et des etres sensibles? 
Avez-vous entendu des eaiix, des pres, des hois, 
La muette eloquence et la secrete voix ? 
Rendez-nous ces effets." Les Jardins, Boole I. 

E F O R E we proceed to a detailed and 
more practical consideration of the subject, 
let us occupy ourselves for a moment with 
the consideration of the different results 
which are to be sought after, or, in other 
r-riji-^'- words, what kinds of beauty we may hope to 
produce by Landscape Gai'dening. To attempt the smallest 
work in any art, without knowing either the capacities of 




46 



LANDSCAPE GAKDENINO. 



that art, or the schools, or modes, by which it has previous- 
ly been characterized, is but to be groping about in a dim 
twilight, without the power of knowing, even should we be 
successful in our efforts, the real excellence of our produc- 
tion ; or of judging its merit, comparatively, as a work of 
taste and imagrination. 




[Fig. 12. The Geometric style, from an old print,] 

The beauties elicited by the ancient style of gardening 
were those of regularity, symmetry, and the display of 
labored art. These were attained in a merely mechanical 
manner, and usually involved little or no theory. The 
geometrical form and lines of the buildings were only ex- 
tended and carried out in the garden. In the best classical 
models, the art of the sculptor conferred dignity and ele- 
gance on the garden, by the fine forms of marble vases and 
statues ; in the more intricate and labored specmaens of the 



BEAUTIES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE ART. 47 

Dutch school, prevalent in England in the time of William 
IV. (Fig. 12), the results evince a fertility of odd conceits, 
rather than the exercise of taste or imagination. Indeed, 
as, to level ground naturally uneven, or to make an avenue, 
by planting rows of trees on each side of a broad walk, 
requires only the simplest perception of the beauty of ma- 
thematical forms, so, to lay out a garden in the geometric 
style, became little more than a formal routine, and it was 
only after the superior interest of a more natural manner 
was enforced by men of genius, that natural beauty of 
expression was recognised, and Landscape Gardening was 
raised to the rank of a fine art. 

The ancient style of gardening may, however, be intro- 
duced with good effect in certain cases. In public squares 
and gardens, where display, grandeur of effect, and a highly 
artificial character are desirable, it appears to us the most 
suitable ; and no less so in very small gardens, in which 
variety and irregularity are out of the question. Where a 
taste for imitating an old and quaint style of residence 
exists, the symmetrical and knotted garden would be a 
proper accompaniment ; and pleached alleys, and sheared 
trees, would be admired, like old armor or furniture, as 
curious specimens of antique taste and custom.* 

* There has been a great revival of this kind of garden In England the past 
ten years — more, perhaps, inclining to the Italian school than the Dutch. 
Chnts-worth, Wobnrn Abbey, Castle Howard, Bowood, Eaton Hall, and, in fact, 
most of the great places, have more or less adopted the Italian or Architec- 
tural school on one or more sides of the house, as a sort of connection between 
art and nature. Trentham (the Duke of Sutherland's) is, we believe, especially 
rich in architectural gardens. Both here and at the other places above-men- 
tioned, the grade between the house and the park is let aown, as it were, by a 
series of terraces, each divided from the other by heavy stone balustrades, sur- 
mounted, at regular intervals, with vasK*, planted either with Geraniums, or 
with Yucca, Aloe, Bonapartias, and other formal plants. Flights of broad, 
heavy stone or marble steps conduct from one terrace to the other, and finally 



48 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

The earliest professors of modern Landscape Gardening 
have generally agreed upon two variations, of which the 
art is capable — variations no less certainly distinct, on the 
one hand, than they are capable of intermingling and com- 
bining, on the other. These are the beautiful and the pic- 
turesque : or, to speak more definitely, the beauty charac- 
terized by simple and flowing forms, and that expressed by 
striking, irregular, spirited forms. 

The admirer of nature, as well as the lo-^'^er of pictures 
and engravings, will at once call to mind examples ot 
scenery distinctly expressive of each of these kinds of 
beauty. In nature, perhaps some gently undulating plain 
covered with emerald turf, partially or entirely encompassed 
by rich, rolling outlines of forest canopy, — its wildest ex- 
panse here broken occasionally, by noble groups of round- 
headed trees, or there interspersed with single specimens 
whose trunks support heads of foliage flowing in outline, 
■ or drooping in masses to the very turf beneath them. In 
such a scene we often behold the azure of heaven, and its 
silvery clouds, as well as the deep verdure of the luxuriant 
and shadowy branches, reflected in the placid bosom of a 
silvan lake ; the shores of the latter swelling out, and reced- 
ing, in gentle curved lines ; the banks, sometimes covered 
with soft turf sprinkled with flowers, and in other portions 
clothed with luxuriant masses of verdant shrubs. Here are 

to the Park. The flat of the terrace, being laid out either in tlie most formal 
and precise parterre, or in extremely rich and intricate beds of arabesque pat- 
terns in scrolls, to resemble carpets. In either case, great use is made of 
statues and fountains, very elaborately and artistically designed and executed, 
and of Portugal Laurel, trinnned up to imitate orange-trees in tubs; as, also, 
of the Irish and Golden Yew, and other pyramidal evergreens, either planted in 
the ground, or in boxes, and, also, of different-colored gravel in the division 
of the beds, the whole producing, when seen froin the windows of the house, 
a brilliant combination, which, with the soft, verdant park as a background, is 
inexpressibly gay and effective. — II. W. S. 



BEAUTIES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE ART. 49 

all the elements of what is termed natural beauty, — or a 
landscape characterized by simple, easy, and flowing lines. 

For an example of the opposite character, let us take a 
stroll to the nearest woody glen in your neighborhood — 
perhaps a romantic valley, half shut in on two or more 
sides by steep rocky banks, partially concealed and over- 
hung by clustering vines, and tangled thickets of deep 
foliage. Against the sky outline breaks the wild and irre- 
gular form of some old, half decayed tree near by, or the 
horizontal and unique branches of the larch or the pine, 
with their strongly marked forms. Rough and irregular 
stems and trunks, rocks half covered with mosses and 
flowering plants, open glades of bright verdure opposed to 
dark masses of bold shadowy foliage, form prominent ob- 
jects in the foreground. If water enlivens the scene, we 
shall hear the murmur of the noisy brook, or the cool dash- 
ing of the cascade, as it leaps over the rocky barrier. Le . 
the stream turn the ancient and well-worn wheel of the old 
mill in the middle ground, and we shall have an illustration 
of the picturesque, not the less striking from its familiarity 
to every one. 

To the lover of the fine arts, the name of Claude Lor- 
raine cannot fail to suggest examples of beauty in some of 
its pur-est and most simple forms. In the best pictures of 
this master, we see portrayed those graceful and flowing 
forms in trees, foreground, and buildings, which delight so 
much the lover of noble and chaste beauty, — compositions 
emanating from a harmonious soul, and inspired by a cli- 
mate and a richness of nature and art seldom surpassed. 

On the other hand, where shall we find all the elements 
of the picturesque more graphically combined than in the 
vigorous landscapes of Salvator Rosa ! In those rugged 



50 LANDSCAPE GARDENINO. 

scenes, even the lawless aspects of his iavoi'ite robbers and 
banditti are not more spirited, than the bold rocks and wild 
passes by which they are surrounded. And in the produc- 
tions of his pencil we see the influence of a romantic and 
vigor®us imagination, nursed amid scenes teeming with 
the grand as well as the picturesque — both of which he 
embodied in the most strilcing manner. 

In giving these illustrations of beautiful and of pictu- 
resque scenes, we have not intended them to be understood 
in the light of exact models for imitation in Landscape 
Gardening — only as striking examples of expression in 
natural scenery. Although in nature many landscapes 
parlake in a certain degree of both these kinds of expression, 
yet it is no doubt true that the effect is more satisfactory, 
where either the one or the other character predominates. 
Tlie accomplished amateur should be able to seize at once 
upon the characteristics of these two species of beauty in 
all scenery. To assist the reader in this kind of discrimi- 
nation, we shall keep these expressions constantly in view, 
and we hope we shall be able fully to illustrate the differ- 
ence in the expression of even single trees, in this respect. 
A few strongly marked objects, either picturesque or simply 
beautiful, will often confer their character upon a whole 
landscape ; as the destruction of a single group of bold 
rocks, covered with wood, may render a scene, once pictu- 
resque, completely insipid. 

The early writers on the modern style were content with 
trees allowed to grow in their natural forms, and with an 
easy assemblage of sylvan scenery in the pleasure-grounds, 
which resembled the usual woodland features of nature. 
The effect of this method will always be interesting, and ai^ 
asrreeable effect will always be the result of following- the 



beaujlIEs and peincipi.es of tub art. 51 

simplest hints derived from the free and hixmiant forms of 
nature. No residence in the country can fail to be pleasing, 
whose features are natural groups of forest trees, smooth 
lawn, and hard gravel walks. 

But this is scarcely Landscape Gardening in the true 
sense of the word, although apparently so understood by 
many writers. By .Landscape Gardening, we understand 
not only an imitation, in the grounds of a country residence, 
of the agreeable forms of nature, but an expressive, harmo- 
nious, and refined imitation* In Landscape Gardening, 
we should aim to separate the accidental and extraneous 
in nature, and to preserve only the spirit, or essence. This 
subtle essence lies, we believe, in the expression more or 
less pervading every attractive portion of nature. And it 
is by eliciting, preserving, or heightening this expression, 
that we may give our landscape gardens a higher charm, 
than even the polish of art can bestow. 

Now, the two most forcible and complete expressions to 
be found in that kind of natural scenery which may be 
reproduced in Landscape Gardening, are the Beautiful 
and the Picturesque. As we look upon these as quite 
distinct, and as success in practical embellishment must 
depend on our feeling and understanding these expressions 
beforehand, it is necessary that we should attach some 
definite meaning to terms which we shall be continually 
obliged to employ. This is, indeed, the more requisite, from 

* '* Thus, there is a beauty of nature and a beauty of art. To copy the 
beauty of nature cannot be called being an artist in the highest sense of the 
word, as a mechanical talent only is requisite for this. The beautiful in art 
depends on ideas ; and the trae artist, therefore, must possess, together with the 
talent for technical execution, that genial power which revels freely in rich 
forms, and is capable of producing and animating them. It is by this, that the 
jierit of the artist and his production is to be judged ; and these cannot be 



52 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

the vague and conflicting opinions of most preceding writers 
on this branch of the subject ; some, hke Repton, insisting 
that they are identical ; and others, hke Price, that they 
are widely different. 

Gilpin defines Picturesque ©bjects to be " those which 
please from some quality capable of being illustrated in 
painting." 

Nothing can well be more vagus than such a definition. 
We have already described the difl^erence between the 
beautiful landscapes of Claude and the picturesque scenes 
painted by Salvator. No one can deny their being essen- 
tially distinct in character ; and no one, we imagine, will 
deny that they both nlease from " some quality capable of 
being illustrated in painting." The beautiful female heads 
of Carlo Dolce are widely different from those of the pictu- 
resque peasant girls of Gerard Douw, yet both are favorite 
subjects with artists. A symmetrical American elm, with 
its wide head drooping with garlands of graceful foliage, is 
very different in expression from the v/ild and twisted larch 
or pine tree, which we find on the steep sides of. a moun- 
tain ; yet botli are favorite subjects with the painter. It is 
clear, indeed, that there is a widely different idea hidden 
under these two distinct types, in material forms. 

Beauty, in all natural objects, as we conceive, arises 
from their expression of those attributes of the Creator — 
infinity, unity, symmetry, proportion, etc. — which he has 
stamped more or less visibly on all his works ; and a beau- 
tiful living form is one in which the individual is a harmo- 

properly estimated among those barren copyists which we find so many of our 
flower, landscape, and portrait painters to be. Dut the artist stands much 
higher in the scale, who, though a copyist of visible nature, is capable of seiz- 
ing it with poetic feeling, and representing it in its more dignified sense ; such, 
for example, as Raphael, Poussin, Claude, &c." — Weinbreunef. 



BEAUTIES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE ART. 53 

nioiis and well balanced development of a fine type. Thus, 
taking the most perfect specimens of beauty in the human 
figure, we see in them symmetry, proportion, unity, 
and grace — the presence of everything that could add 
to the idea of perfected existence. In a beautiful tree, 
such as a fine American elm, we see also the most coinplete 
and perfect balance of all its parts, resulting from its 
growth under the most favorable influences. It realizes, 
then, perfectly, the finest form of a fine type or species ot 
tree. 

But all nature is not equally Beautiful. Both in living 
things and in inorganized matter, we see on all sides evi- 
dences of nature struggling with opposing forces. Moun- 
tains are upheaved by convulsions, valleys are broken into 
fearful chasms. Certain forms of animal and vegetable life 
instead of manifesting themselves in those more complete 
and perfect forms of existence where the matter and spirit 
are almost in perfect harmony, appear to struggle for the 
full expression of their character with the iTiaterial form, 
and to express it only with difficulty at last. What is 
achieved with harmony, grace, dignity, almost with appa- 
rent repose, by existences whose type is the Beautiful, is 
done only with violence and disturbed action by the former. 
This kind of ipanifestation in nature w^e call the Pictures- 
que. 

More concisely, the Beautiful is nature or art obeying 
the universal laws of perfect existence (i. e. Beauty), 
easily, freely, harmoniously, and without the display of 
power. The Picturesque is nature or art obeying the same 
laws rudely, violently, irregularly, and often displaying 
power only. 



54 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Hence we find all Beautiful forms characterized by curved 
and flowing lines — ^lines expressive of infinity,^' of grace, 
and willing obedience : and all Picturesque forms character 
ized by irregular and broken lines— lines expressive of vio- 
lence, abrupt action, and partial disobedience, a strug- 
gling of the idea with the substance or the condition of its 
being. The Beautiful js an idea of beauty calmly and har- 
moniously expressed ; the Picturesque an idea of beauty or 
power strongly and irregularly expressed. As an example 
of the Beautiful in other arts we refer to the Apollo of the 
Vatican ; as an example of the Picturesque, to the Laocoon 
or the Dying Gladiator. In nature we would place before 
the reader a finely formed elm or chestnut, whose Wei 
balanced head is supported on a trunk full of symmetry and 
dignity, and whose .branches almost sweep the turf in their 
rich luxuriance ; as a picturesque contrast, some pine or 
larch, whose gnarled roots grasp the rocky crag on which it 
grows, and \those wild and irregular branches tell of tht 
storm and tempest that it has so often struggled against.f 

In pictures, too, one often hears the Beautiful confounded 
with the Picturesque. Yet they are quite distinct ; though 
in many subjects they may be found harmoniously com- 
bined. Some of Raphael's angels may be taken as perfect 
illustrations of the Beautiful. In their serene and heavenly 

* Hogarth called the curve the hne of beauty, and all artists have felt instinct- 
vely its power, but Mr. Ruskin (in Modern Painters) was, we believe," the 
first to suggest the cause of that power — that it expresses in its varying ten- 
dencies, the infinite. 

t This also explains why trees, though they retain for the most part therr 
characteristic forms, vary somewhat in expression according to their situation. 
Thus the larch, though always picturesque, is far more so in mountain ridgea 
where it is exposed to every blast, than in sheltered lawns where it only finds 
,wft airs and sunsliine. 



JiEAUTIES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE ART. 55 

countenances we see only that calm and pure existence ol 
which perfect beauty is the outward type ; on the other hand, 
Murillo's beggar boys are only picturesque. What we ad- 
mire in them (beyond admirable execution) is not their rags 
or their mean apparel, but a certain irregular struggling 
qf a better feeling within, against this outward poverty of 
nature and condition. 

Architecture borrows, partly perhaps by association, the 
same expression. We find the Beautiful in the most sym- 
metrical edifices, built in the finest proportions, and of the 
purest materials. It is, on the other hand, in some irregu 
lar castle formed for defence, some rude mill nearly as wild as 
the glen where it is placed, some thatched cottage, weather 
stained and moss covered, that we find the Picturesque. 
The Temple of Jupiter Olympus in all its perfect proportions 
was prized by the Greeks as a model of beauty ; we, who 
see only a few columns and broken architraves standing 
with all their exquisite mouldings obliterated by the vio 
lence of time and the elements, find them Picturesque. 

To return to a more practical view of the subject, 
we may remark, that though we consider the Beautiful and 
the Picturesque quite distinct, yet it by no means follows 
that they may not be combined in the same landscape. 
This is often seen in nature ; and indeed there are few 
landscapes of large extent where they are not thus harmo- 
niously combined. 

But it must be remembered, that while Landscape Gar- 
dening is an imitation of nature, yet it is rarely attempted 
on so large a scale as to be capable of the same extended 
harmony and variety of expression ; and also, that in Land- 
scape Gardening as in the other fine arts, we shall be more 
successful by directing our efibrts towards the production 



56 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

of a leading character or expression, than by endeavor- 
ing to join and harmonize several. 

Our own views on this subject are simply these. When 
a place is small, and only permits a single phase of natural 
expression, always endeavor to heighten or to make that 
single expression predominate ; it should clearly either aim 
only at the Beautiful or the Picturesque. 

When, on the contrary, an estate of large size comes 
within the scope of the Landscape Gardener, he is at liberty 
to give to each separate scene its most fitting character ; 
he will thus, if he is a skilful artist, be able to create great 
variety both of beautiful and picturesque expression, and 
he will also be able to give a higher proof of his power, viz. 
by uniting all those scenes into one whole, by bringing 
them all into harmony. An artist who can do this ha.<» 
reached the ultimatum of his art. 

Again and again has it been said, that Landscape Gar- 
dening and Painting are allied. In no one point does it ap- 
pear to us that they are so, more than in this — that in pro- 
portion to the limited nature of the subject should simpli- 
city and unity of expression be remembered. In some ol 
the finest smaller compositions of Raphael, or some of the 
Landscapes of Claude, so fully is this borne in mind, that 
every object, however small, seems to be instinct with 'the 
same expression ; while in many of the great historical 
piptures, unity and harmony ai'e wrought out of the most 
complex variety of expression. 

We must not be supposed to find in nature only the 
Beautiful and the Picturesque. Grandeur and Sublimity 
are also expressions strongly marked in many of the noblest 
portions of natural landscape. But, except in very rare 
instances, they are wholly beyond the powers of the land- 
scape gardener, at least in the comparatively limited scale 



BEAUTIES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE ART. 57 

of his operations in this country. All that he has to do, is 
to respect them where they exist in natural landscape which 
forms part of his work of art, and so treat the latter, as 
to make it accord with, or at least not violate, the higher 
and predominant expression of the whole. 

There are, however, certain subordinate expressions 
which may be considered as qualities of the Beautiful, and 
which may originally so prevail in natural landscape, or be 
so elicited or created by art, as to give a distinct character 
to a small country residence, or portions of a large one. 
These are simplicity, dignity, grace, elegance, gaiety, 
chasteness, &c. It is not necessary that we should go 
into a labored explanation of these expressions. They are 
more or less familiar to all. A few fine trees, scattered 
and grouped over any surface of smooth lawn, will give a 
character of simple beauty ; lofty trees of great age, 
hills covered with rich wood, an elevation commanding a 
wide country, stamp a site with dignity ; trees of full and 
graceful habit or gently curving forms in the lawn, walks, 
and all other objects, will convey the idea of grace ; as 
finely formed and somewhat tall trees of rare species, or a 
great abundance of bright climbers and gay flowering shrubs 
and plants, will confer characters of elegance and gaiety. 

He who would create in his pleasure grounds these more 
delicate shades of expression, must become a profound stu- 
dent both of nature and art ; he must be able, by his 
own original powers, to seize the subtle essence, the half 
disclosed idea involved in the finest parts of nature, and to 
reproduce and develope it in his Landscape Garden. 

Leaving such, however, to a broader range of study than 
a volume like this would afford, we may offer what, per- 
haps, will not be unacceptable to the novice — a more de- 



58 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

tailed sketch of the distinctive features of the Beautiful and 
the Picturesque, as these expressions should be embodied 
in Landscape Gardening. 

The Beautiful in Landscape Gardening (Fig. 13) is 
produced by outlines whose curves are flowing and gradual, 
surfaces of softness, and growth of richness and luxuriance. 
In the shape of the ground, it is evinced by easy undulations 
melting gradually into each other. In the form of trees, by 
smooth stems, full, round, or symmetrical heads of foliage, 
and luxuriant branches often drooping to the ground, — which 
is chiefly attained by planting and grouping, to allow free 
development of form ; and by selecting trees of suitable cha- 
racter, as the elm, the ash, and the like. In walks and 
roads, by easy flowing curves, following natural shapes of 
the surface, with no sharp angles or abrupt turns. In water, 
by the smooth lake with curved margin, embellished with 
flowing outlines of trees, and full masses of flowering 
shrubs — or in the easy winding cuiwes of a brook. The 
keeping of such a scene should be of the most polished 
kind, — grass mown into a softness like velvet, gravel walks 
scrupulously firm, dry, and clean; and the most perfect 
order and neatness should reign throughout. Among the 
treres and shrubs should be conspicuous the finest foreign 
sorts, distinguished by beauty of form, foliage, and blossom ; 
and rich, groups of shrubs and flowering plants should be 
arranged in the more dressed portions near the house. 
And finally, considering the house itself as a feature in the 
scene, it should properly belong to one of the classical 
modes ; and the Italian, Tuscan, or Venetian forms are 
preferable, because these have both a polished and a 
domestic air, and readily admit of the graceful accom- 
paniments of vases, urns, and other harmonious 
accessories. Or, if we are to have a plainer dwelling, 




Fig. 13.— Example of llie Beautiful in Laiidseape Gardoning. 




Vui. If).— KxaiMiilc (il llif ricturesque in LamlM^ai" (ianlcimm-. 



BEAUTIES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE ART. i'lO 

it should be simple and symmetrical in its character, and 
its veranda festooned with masses of the finest climbers. 

The PicTUREsauE in Landscape Gardening (Fig. 14) 
aims at the production of outlines of a certain spirited 
irregularity, surfaces comparatively abrupt and broken, 
and growth of a somewhat wild and bold character. The 
shape of the ground sought after, has its occasional 
smoothness varied by sudden variations, and in parts runs 
into dingles, rocky groups, and broken banks. The trees 
should in many places be old and irregular, with rough 
stems and bark ; and pines, larches, and other trees of 
striking, irregular growth, must appear in numbers sufficient 
to give character to tlie woody outlines. As, to produce 
the Beautiful, the trees are planted singly in open groups 
to allow full expansion, so for the Picturesque, the grouping 
takes every variety of form ; almost every object should 
group with another ; trees and shrubs are often planted 
closely together ; and intricacy and variety — thickets — 
glades — and underwood — as in wild nature, are indispensa- 
ble. Walks and roads are more abrupt in their windings, 
turning off frequently at sudden angles where the form of 
the ground or some inviting object directs. In water, all 
the wildness of romantic spots in nature is to be imitated 
or preserved ; and the lake or stream with bold shore and 
rocky, wood-fringed margin, or the cascade in the secluded 
dell, are the characteristic forms. The keeping of such a 
landscape will of course be less careful than in the 
graceful school. Firm gravel walks near the house, and 
a general air of neatness in that quarter, are indispensable 
to the fitness of the scene in all modes, and indeed properly 
evince the recognition of art in all Landscape Gardening. 
But the lawn may be less frequently mown, the edges of 



^^ LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

the walks less carefully trimmQd, where the Pictiiresque 
prevails ; while in portions more removed from the house, 
the walks may sometimes sink into a mere footpath 
without gravel, and the lawn change into the forest glade 
or meadow. The architecture which belongs to the 
picturesque landscape, is the Gothic mansion, the old 
English or the Swiss cottage, or some other striking 
forms, with bold projections, deep shadows, and irregular 
outlines. Rustic baskets, and similar ornaments, may 
abound near the house, and in the more frequented parts 
of the place. 

The recognition of art, as Loudon justly observes, is a 
first principle in Landscape Gardening, as in all other arts ; 
and those of its professors have erred, who supposed that 
the object of this art is merely to produce a fac-simile of 
nature, that could not be distinguished from a wild scene. 
J3ut we contend that this principle may be fully attainea 
with either expression — the picturesque cottage being as 
well a work of art as the classic villa ; its baskets, and 
seats of rustic work, indicating the hand of man as well 
as the marble vase and balustrade ; and a walk, sometimes 
narrow and crooked, is as certainly recognised as man's 
work, as one always regular and flowing. Foreign trees 
of picturesque growth are as readily obtained as those of 
beautiful forms. The recognition of art is, therefore, 
always apparent in both modes. The evidences are 
indeed stronger and more multiplied in the careful polish 
of the Beautiful landscape,* and hence many prefer this 

* The beau ideal in Landscape Gardening, as a fine art, appears to us to be 
embraced in the ereation of scenery full of expression, as the beautiful or pic- 
turesque, the materials of which are, to a certain extent, different from those in 
wild nature, being composed of tlie floral and arboricultural riches of all climates, 
as far as possible ; uniting in the same scene, a richness and a variety never to 



BEAUTIES AND fRIXCIPLES OF THE ART. 01 

species of landscape, not, as it deserves to be preferred, 
because it displays the most beautiful and perfect ideas in 
its outlines, the forms of its trees, and all that enters into 
its composition, but chiefly because it also is marked by 
that careful polish, and that completeness, which imply 
the expenditure of money, which they so well know how 
to value. 

If we declare that the Beautiful is the more perfect 
expression in landscape, we shall be called upon to explain 
why the Picturesque is so much more attractive to many 
minds. This, we conceive, is owing? oartly to the imper- 
fection of our natures by which most of us sympathize 
more with that in which the struggle between spirit and 
matter is most apparent, than with that in which the 
union is harmonious and complete; and partly because 
from the comparative rarity of highly picturesque land- 
scape, it affects us more forcibly when brought into 
contrast with our daily life. Artists, we imagine, find 
somewhat of the same pleasure in studying wild land- 
scape, where the very rocks and trees seem to struggle 
with the elements for foothold, that they do in contem- 
plating the phases of the passions and instincts of 
human and animal life. The manifestation of power is 
to many minds far more captivating than that of beauty. 

All who enjoy the charms of Landscape Gardening, 
may perhaps be divided into three classes : those who have 
arrived only at certain primitive ideas of beauty which 
are found in regular forms and straight lines ; those who 
in the Beautiful seek for the highest and most perfect 

be found in any one portion of nature ; — a scene characterized as a work cJf art, 
by the variety of the materials, as foreign trees, plants, &c., and by the polish 
and keeping of the grounds in the natural style, as distinctly as by the uniform 
ind symmetrical arrangement in the ancient style. 



G2 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

development of the idea in the material form ; 
and those who in the Picturesque enjoy most a certain 
wild and incomplete harmony between the idea and the 
forms in which it is expressed. ' 

As the two latter classes embrace the whole range 
of modern Landscape Gardening, we shall keep distinctly 
in view their two governing principles— the Beautiful and 
the Picturesque, in treating of the practice of the art. 

There are always circumstances which must exert a 
controlling influence over amateurs, in this country, in 
choosing between the two. These are, fixed locality, ex- 
pense, individual preference in the style of building, and 
many others which readilj'' occur to all. The great variety 
of attractive sites in the older parts of the country, afford an 
abundance of opportunity for either taste Within the last 
five years, we think the Picturesque is beginning to be pre- 
ferred. It has, when a suitable locality offers, great advan- 
tages for us. The raw materials of wood, water, and sur- 
face, by the margin of many of our rivers and brooks, are 
at once appropriated with so much effect, and so little art, 
in the picturesque mode ; the annual tax on the purse too 
is so comparatively little, and the charm so great ! 

While, ©n one hand, the residences of a country of level 
plains usually allow only the beauty of simple and grace- 
ful forms ; the larger demesne, with its swelling hills and 
noble masses of wood (may we not, prospectively, say the 
rolling prairie too ?), should always, in the hands of the 
man of wealth, be made to display all the breadth, va- 
riety, and harmony of both the Beautiful and the Pictu- 
resque. 

There is no surface of ground, however bare, which has 
not, naturally, more or less tendency to one or the other of 
these expressions. And the improver who detects the true 



BEAUTIES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE ART. G3 

character, and plants, builds, and embellishes, as he should 
constantly aiming to elicit and strengthen it — will soon 
arrive at a far higher and more satisfactory result, than one 
who, in the common manner, ^\•orks at random. The latter 
may succeed in producing pleasing grounds— he will un- 
doubtedly add to the general beauty and tasteful appearance 
of the country, and we gladly accord him our thanks. But 
the improver who unites with pleasing forms an expres- 
sion of sentiment, will affect not only the common eye, but 
much more powerfully, the imagination, and the refined 
and delicate taste. 

But there a're many persons with small cottage places, 
of little decided character, who have neither room, time, 
iior income, to attempt the improvement of their grounds 
fully, after either of those two schools. How shall they 
render their places tasteful and agreeable, in the easiest 
manner ? We answer, hrj attempting only the simple and 
the natural; and the unfaihng way to secure this, is by 
employing as leading features only trees and grass. A 
soft verdant lawn, a few forest or ornamental trees 
well grouped, walks, and a few flowers, give universal 
pleasure ; they contain in themselves, in fact, the basis of 
all our agreeable sensations in a landscape garden (na- 
tural beauty, and the recognition of art) ; and they are 
the most enduring sources of enjoyment in any place. 
There are no country seats in the United States so unsa- 
tisfactory and tasteless, as those in which, without any 
definite aim, everything is attempted ; and a mixed jumble 
of discordant forms, materials, ornaments, and decorations, 
is assembled — a part in one style and a bit in another, 
without the least feeling of unity or congrnity. These 
rural bedlams, full of all kinds of absurdities, without a 
ieadino- character or expression of any sort, cost their 



04 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

owners a vast deal of trouble and money, without giving a 
tasteful mind a shadow of the beauty which it feels at the 
first glimpse of a neat cottage residence, with its simple, 
sylvan character of well kept lawn and trees. If the latter 
does not rank high in the scale of Landscape Gardening 
as an art, it embodies much of its essence as a source ol 
enjoyment — the production of the Beautiful in country 
residences. 

Besides the beauties of form and expression in the differ- 
ent modes of laying out grounds, there are certain univer- 
sal and nherent beauties common to all styles, and, indeed, 
to every composition in the fine arts. Of these, we shall 
especially point out those growing out of the principles of 

UNITY, HARMONY, and VARIETY. 

Unity, or the production of a whole, is a leading 
principle of the highest importance, in every art of taste or 
design, without which no satisfactory result can be 
realized. This arises from the fact, that the mind can only 
attend, with pleasure and satisfaction, to one object, or one 
composite sensation, at the same time. If two distinct 
objects, or classes of objects, pi'esent themselves at once to 
us, we can only attend satisfactorily to one, by withdraw- 
ing our attention for the time from the other. Hence the 
necessity of a reference to this leading principle of unity. 

To illustrate the subject, let us suppose a building, 
partially built of wood,, with square windows, and the 
remainder of brick or stone, with long and narrow 
windows. However well such a building may be con- 
structed, or however nicely the different proportions of the 
edifice may be adjusted, it is evident it can never form a 
satisfactory whole. The mind can only account for such 
an absurdity, by supposing it to have been built by two 



BEAUTIES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE ART. 65 

individuals, or at two different times, as there is nothing 
indicating unity of mind in its composition. 

In Landscape Gardening, violations of the principle of 
unity are often to be met with, and they are always indi- 
cative of the absence of correct taste in art. Looking upon 
a landscape from the windows of a villa residence, we 
sometimes see a considerable portion of the view embraced 
by the eye, laid out in natural groups of trees and shrubs, 
and upon one side, or perhaps in the middle of the same 
scene, a formal avenue leading directly up to the house. 
Such a view can never appear a satisfactory whole, 
because we experience a confusion of sensations in con- 
templating it. Tiiere is an evident incongruity in bringing 
two modes of arranging plantations, so totally different, 
under the eye at one moment, which distracts, rather than 
pleases the mind. In this example, the avenue, taken by 
itself, rnay be a beautiful object, and the groups and con- 
nected masses may, in themselves, be elegant ; yet if the 
two portions are seen together, they will not form a whole, 
because they cannot make a composite idea. For the 
same reason, there is something unpleasing in the introduc- 
tion of fruit trees among elegant ornamental trees on a 
lawn, or even in assembling together, in the same beds, 
(lowering plants and culinary vegetables — one class of 
vegetation suggesting the useful and homely alone to the 
mind, and the other, avowedly, only the ornamental. 

In the arrangement of a large extent of surface, where a 
great many objects are necessarily presented to the eye at 
once, the principle of unity will suggest that there should 
be some grand or leading features to which the others 
should be merely subordinate. Thus, in grouping trees, 
there should be some large and striking masses to which 
the others appear to belong, however distant, instead of 



G6 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

scattered groups, all of the same size. Even in arranging 
walks, a whole will more readily be recognised, if there are 
one or two of large size, with which the others appear 
connected as branches, than if all are equal in breadth, 
and present the same appearance to the eye in passing. 

In all works of art which command universal admiration 
we discover an unity of conception and composition, an 
unity of taste and execution. To assemble in a single 
composition forms which are discordant, and portions 
dissimilar in plan, can only afford pleasure for a short time 
to tasteless minds, or those fona of trifling and puerile 
conceits. The production of an accordant whole is, on 
the contrary, capable of affording the most permanent 
enjoyment to educated minds, everywhere, and at all periods 
of time. 

After unity, the principle of Variety is worthy of con- 
sideration, as a fertile source of beauty in Landscape Gar- 
dening. Variety must be considered as belonging more to 
the details than to the production of a whole, and it may 
be attained by disposing trees and shrubs in numerous dif- 
ferent ways ; and by the introduction of a great number oi 
different species of vegetation, or kinds of walks, ornamental 
objects, buildings, and seats. By producing intricacy, it 
creates in scenery a thousand points of interest, and elicits 
new beauties, through different arrangements and combi- 
nations of forms and colors, light and shades. In pleasure- 
grounds, while the whole should exhibit a general plan, the 
different scenes presented to the eye, one after the other, 
should possess sufiicient variety in the detail to keep alive 
the interest of the spectator, and awaken further curiosity. 

Harmony may be considered the principle presiding over 
variety, and preventing it from becoming discordant. It, 
indeed, always supposes co?itrasts, but neither so strong nor 



BEAUTIES AND PRINCITLES CF THE ART. 0/ 

SO frequent as to produce discord ; and variety, but not so 
great as to destroy a leading expression. In plantations, 
we seek it in a combination of qualities, opposite in some 
respects, as in the color of the foliage, and similar in others 
more important, as the form. In embellishments, by a great 
variety of objects of interest, as sculptured vases, sun dials, 
or rustic seats, baskets, and arbors, of different forms, but all 
in accordance, or keeping with the spirit of the scene. 

To illustrate the three principles, with reference to Land- 
scape Gardening, we may remark, that, if unity only were 
consulted, a scene might be planted with but one knid of 
tree, the effect of which would be sameness ; on the othei 
hand, variety might be carried so far .as to have every tree 
of a different kind, which would produce a confused effect. 
Harmony, however, introduces contrast and variety, but 
keeps them subordinate to unity, and to the leading expres 
sion ; and is, thus, the highest principle of the three. 

In this brief abstract of the nature of imitation in Land- 
scape Gardening and the kinds of beauty which it is possible 
to produce by means of the art, we have endeavored to 
elucidate its leading principles, clearly, to the reader. 
These grand principles we shall here succinctly recapitu- 
late, premising that a familiarity with them is of the very 
first importance in the successful practice of this elegant 
art, viz. : 

The Imitation of the Beauty of Expression, derived 
from a refined perception of the sentiment of nature : The 
Recognition of Art, founded on the immutability of the 
true, as well as the beautiful : And the Production of 
Unity, Harmony, and Variety, in order to render com- 
plete and continuous, our enjoyment of any artistical 
work. 



68 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Neither the professional Landscape Gardener, nor the 
amateur, can hope for much success in reahzing the nobler 
effects of the art, unless he first make himself master of the 
natural character or prevailing expression of the place to 
be improved. In this nice perception, at a glance, of the 
natural expression, as well as the capabilities of a residence, 
lies the secret of the superior results produced even by the 
improver, who, to use the words of Horace Walpole, " is 
proud of no other art than that of softening nature's harsh- 
ness, and copying her graceful touch." When we discover 
ih.Q picturesque indicated in the grounds of the residence to 
be treated, let us take advantage of it ; and while all harsh- 
ness incompatible with scenery near the house is removed, 
the original expression may in most cases be heightened, in 
all rendered more elegant and appropriate, without lower- 
ing it in force or spirit. In like manner good taste will 
direct us to embellish scenery expressive of the Beautiful, 
by the addition of forms, whether hi trees, buildings, or 
other objects, harmonious in character, as well as in color 
and outline. 



ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. d!> 



SECTION III. 

ON WOOD. 

The beauty of Trees in Rural Embellishments. Pleasure resulting from their cultivation 
Plantations in the Ancient Style ; their formality. In the Modern Style ; grouping trees 
Arrangement and grouping in the Graceful school ; in the Picturesque school. lUustra 
tions in planting villa, forme orn6e, and cottage grounds. General classification of tre«> 
as to forms, with leading characteristics of each class. 

" He gains all points, who pleasingly confounds, 
Suiprises, varies, and conceals the bounds. 
Calls in the country, catches opening glades, 
'' Joins willing woods, and varies shades from shades ; 

Now breaks, or now directs the intending lines : 
Paints as you plant, and, as you work, designs." 

Pope. 




M O N G all the materials at our disposal 
for the embellishment of comitry resi- 
idences, none are at once so highly orna- 
mental, so indispensable, and so easily managed, as trees, or 
wood. We introduce them in every part of the landscape, 
— in the foreground as well as in the distance, on the tops 
of the hills and in the depths of the valleys. They are, in- 
deed, like the drapery which covers a somewhat ungainly 
figure, and while it conceals its defects, communicates to it 
new interest and expression. 

A tree, undoubtedly, is one of the most beautiful objects 
in nature. Airy and delicate in its youth, luxuriant and 
majestic in its prime, venerable and picturesque in its old 



70 LANDSCAPE GARDKNING. 

age, it coistitutos in its various fouiis, sizes, and develop- 
ments, the greatest charm and beauty of the earth in all 
countries. The most varied outline of surface, the finest 
combination of picturesque materials, the stateliest country 
house would be comparatively tame and spiritless, without 
the inimitable accompaniment of foliage. Let those who 
have passed their whole lives in a richly wooded country. 
— whose daily visions are deep leafy glens, forest clad hills 
and plains luxuriantly shaded, — transport themselves for a 
moment to the desert, whei'e but a. few stunted bushes rais( 
their heads above the earth, or those wild steppes where 
the eye wanders in vain for some " leafy garniture," — where 
the sun strikes down with parching heat, or the wind 
sweeps over with unbroken fury, and they may, perhaps 
estimate, by contrast, their beauty and value. 

We are not now to enumerate the great usefulness of 
trees, — their value in the construction of our habitations, 
our navies, the various implements of labor, — in short, the 
thousand associations which they suggest as ministering to 
our daily wants ; but let us imagine the loveliest scene, the 
wildest landscape, or the most enchanting valley, despoiled 
of trees, and we shall find nature shorn of her fair propor- 
tions, and the character and expression of these favorite 
spots almost entirely destroyed. 

Wood, in its many shapes, is then one of the greatest 
sources of interest and character in Landscapes. Variety, 
which we need scarcely allude to as a fertile source of 
beauty, is created in a wonderful degree by a natural 
arrangement of trees. To a pile of buildings, or even of 
ruins, to a group of rocks or animals," they communicate 
new life and spirit by their irregular outlines, which, by 
partially c~>ncealing some portions, and throwing others 



ON wool) AND PLANTATIONS. 7] 

into stronger light, contribute greatly to produce intricacy 
and variety, and confer an expression, which, without these 
latter qualities, might in a great measure bs wanting. By 
shutting out some parts, and inclosing others, they divide 
the extent embraced by the eye into a hundred different 
landscapes, instead of one tame scene bounded by the 
horizon. 

The different seasons of the year, too, are inseparably 
connected in our minds with the effects produced by them 
on woodland scenery. Spring is joyous and enlivening to 
us, as nature then puts on her fresh livery of green, and the 
trees bud and blossom with a renewed beauty, that speaks 
with a mute and gentle eloquence to the heart. In sum- 
mer they offer us a grateful shelter under their umbrageous 
arms and leafy branches, and whisper unwritten music to 
the passing breeze. In autumn we feel a melancholy 
thoughtfulness as 

" We stand among the fallen leaves," 

and gaze upon their dying glories. And in winter we see 
in them the silent rest of nature, and behold in their leaf- 
less spray, and seemingly dead limbs, an annual type of 
that deeper mystery — the deathless sleep of all being. 

By the judicious employment of trees in the embellishment 
of a country residence, we may effect the greatest alterations 
and improvements within the scope of Landscape Garden- 
ing. Buildings which are tame, insipid, or even mean in 
appearance, may be made interesting, and often picturesque, 
by a proper disposition of trees. Edifices, or parts of them 
that are unsightly, or which it is desirable partly or wholly 
to conceal, can readily be hidden or improved by wood ; 
and walks and roads, \lhich otherwise would be but simple 



72 LANDSCAPE GARDENING 

ways of approach from one point to another, are, by an 
elegant arrangement of trees on their margins, or adjacent 
to them, made the most interesting and pleasing portions of 
the residence. 

In Geometric gardening, trees disposed in formal lines, 
exhibit as strongly art or design in the contriver, as regu- 
lar architectm-al edifices ; while, in a more elevated and 
enlightened taste, we are able to dispose them in our clea- 
sure-grounds and parks, around our houses, in all the vari- 
ety of groups, masses, thicket, and single trees, in such a 
manner as to rival the most beautiful scenery of general 
nature ; producing a portion of landscape which unites with 
all the comforts and conveniences of rural habitation, the 
superior charm of refined arrangement, and natural beauty 
of expression. 

If it were necessary to present any other inducement 
to the country gentleman to form plantations of trees, 
than the great beauty and value which they add to his 
estate, we might find it in the pleasure which all derive 
from their cultivation. Unlike the pleasure arising from 
the gratification of our taste in architecture, or any other 
of the arts whose productions are ofiered to us perfect 
and complete, the satisfaction arising from planting and 
rearing trees is never weakened. " We look," says a 
writer, " upon our trees as our offspring ; and nothing 
of inanimate nature can be more gratifying than to see 
them grow and prosper under our care and attention, — 
nothing more interesting than to examine their progress, 
and mark their several peculiarities. In their progress 
from plants to trees, they every year unfold new and 
characteristic marks of their ultimate beauty, which not 
only compensate for past cares and troubles, but like the 



ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. 73 

returns of gratitude, raise a most delightful train of 
sensations in the mind ; so innocent and rational, thai 
they may justly rank with the most exquisite of human 
enjoyments." 

" Happy is he, who in a country life 
Shuns more perplexing toil and jarring strife; 
Who lives upon the natal soil he loves, 
And sits beneath his old ancestral groves." 

To this, let us add the complacent feelings with which a 
man in old age may look around him and behold these 
leafy monarchs, planted by his boyish hands and nurtured 
by him in his youthful years, which have grown aged and 
venerable along with him ; 

" A wood coeval with himself he sees. 
And loves his own contemporary trees." 

Plantations in the Ancient Style. In the arrancre- 
ment and culture of trees and plants in the ancient style 
of Landscape Gardening, we discover the evidences of 
the formal taste, — abounding with every possible variety 
of quaint conceits, and rife with whimsical expedients, 
so much in fashion during the days of Henry and Eliza- 
beth, and until the eighteenth century in England, and 
which is still the reigning mode in Holland, and parts of 
France. In these gardens, nature was tamed and subdued, 
or as some critics will have it, tortured into every shape 
which the ingenuity of the gardener could suggest ; and 
such kinds of vegetation as bore the shears most patiently, 
and when carefully trimmed, assumed gradually the 
appearance of verdant statues, pyramids, crowing cocks, 
and rampant lions, were the especial favorites of the 
gardeners of the old school. 



74 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

It has been remarked, that the geometric style would 
always be preferred in a new country, or in any country 
where the amount of land under cultivation is much less 
than that covered with natural woods and forests ; as the 
inhabitants being surrounded by scenery abounding with 
natural beauty, would always incline to lay out their gar- 
dens and pleasure-grounds in regular forms, because the 
distinct exhibition of art would give more pleasure by con- 
trast, than the elegant imitation of beautiful nature. That 
this is true as regards the mass of uncultivated minds, we 
Jo not deny. But at the same time we aHirm that it 
evinces a meagre taste, and a lower state of the art, or a 
lower perception of beauty in the individual who employs 
the geometrical style in such cases. A person, whose 
place is suriounded by inimitably grand or sublime scenery, 
would undoubtedly fail to excite our admiration, by at- 
tempting a fac-simile imitation of such scenery on the small 
scale of a park or garden ; but he is not, therefore, obliged 
to resort to right-lined plantations and regular grass plots, 
to produce something which shall be at once suiliciently 
different to attract notice, and so beautiful as to command 
admiration. All that it would be requisite for him to do 
in such a case, would be to employ rare and foreign orna- 
mental trees ; as for example, the horse-chestnut and the 
linden, in situations where the maple and the sycamore are 
the principal trees, — elegant flowering shrubs and beautiful 
creepers, instead of sumacs and hazels, — and to have his 
place kept in high and polished order, instead of the tan- 
gled wildness of general nature. 

On the contrary, were a person to desire a residence 
newly laid out and planted, in a district where all around 
is in a high state of polished cultivation, as in the suburbs 



ON WOOD ANU PLANTATIONS. 75 

of a city, a species of pleasure would result, from the imita- 
tion of scenery of a more spirited, natural character, 
as the picturesque, in his grounds. His plantations are 
made in irregular groups, composed chiefly of picturesque 
trees, as the larch, &c.— his walks would lead through 
varied "scenes, sometimes bordered with groups of rocks 
overrun with flowering creepers and vines ; sometimes 
vvith thickets or little copses of shrubs and flowering 
plants; sometimes through wild and comparatively ne- 
glected portions ; the whole interspersed with open glades 

of turf 

In the maj )rity of instances in the United States, the 
modern style of Landscape Gardening, wherever it is ap- 
preciated, will, in practice, consist in arranging a demesne 
of from five to some hundred acres, — or rather that portion 
of it, say one half, one third, etc., devoted to lawn and 
pleasure-ground, pasture, etc. — so as to exhibit groups of 
forest and ornamental trees and shrubs, surrounding the 
dwelling of the proprietor, and extending for a greater or 
less distance, especially towards the place of entrance from 
the public highway. Near the house, good taste will dic- 
tate the assemblage of groups and masses of the rarer or 
more beautiful trees and shrubs ; commoner native forest 
trees occupying the more distant portions of the grounds.* 



* Although we love planting, and avow that there are few greater pleasures 
than to see a darlmg tree, of one's own placing, every year stretching wider ita 
feathery head of fohage, and covering with a darker shadow the soft turf beneath 
iC, still, we will not let the ardent and inexperienced hunter after a location for 
a country residence, pass without a word of advice. This is, always to makn 
considerable sacrifice to get a place with some existing wood, or a few ready 
grown trees upon it; especially near the site for the house. It is better to 
yield a little in the extent of prospect, or in the direct proximity to a certain 



76 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Plantations in the Modern Style. In the Modern 
Style of Landscape Gardening, it is our aim, in plantations, 
to produce not only what is called natural beauty, but 
even higher and more striking beauty of expression, and ot 
individual forms, than we see in nature ; to create variety 
and mtricacy in the grounds of a residence by various 
modes of arrangement ; to give a highly elegant or polished 
air to places by introducing rare and foreign species ; and 
to conceal all defects of surface, disagreeable views, un- 
sightly buildings, or other oftensive objects. 

As uniformity, and grandeur of single effects, were the 
aim of the old style of arrangement, so variety and har- 
mony of the whole are the results for which we labor in 
the modern landscape. And as the Avenue, or the straight 
line, is the leading form in the geometric arrangement of 
plantations, so let us enforce it upon our readers, the Group 
is equally the key-note of the Modern style. The smallest 
place, having only three trees, may have these pleasingly 
connected in a group ; and the largest and finest park — the 
Blenheim or Chatsworth, of seven miles square, is only 
composed of a succession of groups, becoming masses, 
thickets, woods. If a demesne with the most beautiful 
surface and views has been for some time stiffly and 



locality, than to pitcn your tent in a plain, — desert-like in its bareness — on 
which your leafy sensibilities must suffer for half a dozen vears at least, before 
you can hope for any solace. It is doubtful whether there is not almost as 
much interest in studying from one's window the curious ramifications, tne 
variety of form, and the entire harmony, to be found in a fine old tree, as .v 
gazing from a site where we have no interniption to a panorama of tne whole 
horizon ; and we have generally found tha no planters have so little courage 
and faith, as those who have commenced without the smallest group of large 
trees, as a nucleus for their plantations. 



ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. 77 

awkwardly planted, it is exceedingly difficult to give it a 
natural and agreeable air ; while many a tame level, with 
scarcely a glimpse of distance, has been rendered lovely 
by its charming groups of trees. How necessary, therefore, 
is it, in the very outset, that the novice, before he begins 
to plant, should know how to arrange a tasteful group ! 

Nothing, at first thought, would appear easier than to 
arrange a few trees in the form of a natural and beautiful 
group, — and nothing really is easier to the practised hand. 
Yet experience has taught us that the generality of persons, 
in commencing their first essays in ornamental planting, 
almost invariably crowd their trees into a close, regular 
clump, which has a most formal and unsightly appearance, 
as difierent as possible from the easy, flowing outline of 
the group. 

" Natural groups are full of openings and hollows, of 
trees advancing before, or retiring behind each other ; 
all productive of intricacy, of variety, of deep shadows 
and brilliant lights." 

The chief care, then, which is necessary in the forma 
tion of groups, is, not to place them in any regular or 
artificial manner, — as one at each corner of a triangle, 
square, octagon, or other many-sided figure ; but so to 
dispose them, as that the whole may exhibit the variety. 
connexion, and intricacy seen in nature. " The greatest 
beauty of a group of trees," says " Loudon, " as far as 
respects their stems, is in the varied direction these take 
as they grow into trees ; but as that is, for all practical 
purposes, beyond the influence of art, all we can do, is to 
vary as much as possible the ground plan of groups, or 
the relative positions which the stems have to each other 
where they spring from the earth. This is considerable. 



/b LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

even where a very few trees are used, of which any 
person may convince himself by placing a few dots on 
paper. Thus two trees (fig. 15), or a tree and shrub, 
which is the smallest group (a), may be placed in three 
different positions with reference to a spectator in a fixed 
point ; if he moves round them, they will first vary in form 
separately, and next unite in one or two groups, according 
to the position of the spectator. In like manner, three 
trees may be placed in four different positions ; four trees 
may be placed in eight different positions (b) ; five trees 
may be grouped in ten different ways, as to ground plan ; 
six may be placed in twelve different ways (c), and so on." 
Encyclopcsdia of Gard.) 



L 



.t.a f . 



t^-«^ ^ 



■a M- 



e'*^ 



* & 3 '^ & 

rt*. ^ *^ <^ '»:_..{ 



a 



(3 



[Fii;. 15. Grouping of Trees] 

In the composition of larger masses, similar rules nmsi 



ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. 70 

be observed as in the smaller groups, in order to prevent 
them from growing up in heavy, clumpish forms. The 
outline must be flowing, here projecting out into the grass, 
there receding back into the plantation, in order to take 
off all appearance of stiffness and regularity. Trees of 
medium and smaller size should be so interspersed with 
those of larger growth, as to break up all formal sweeps in 
the line produced by the tops of their summits, and oc- 
casionally, low trees should be planted on the outer edge 
of the mass, to connect it with the humble verdure of the 
surrounding sward. 

In many parts of the union, where new residences are 
being formed, or where old ones are to be improved, the 
grounds will often be found, partially, or to a considerable 
extent, clothed with belts or masses of wood, either pre- 
viously planted, or preserved from the woodman's axe. 
How easily we may turn these to advantage in the natural 
style of Landscape Gardening ; and by judicious trimming 
when too thick, or additions when too much scattered, 
elicit often the happiest effects, in a magical manner ! 

Where there are large masses of wood to regulate and 
arrange, much skill, taste, and judgment, are requisite, to 
enable the proprietors to preserve only what is really 
beautiful and picturesque, and to remove all that is super- 
fluous. Most of our native woods, too, have grown so 
closely, and the trees are consequently so much drawn up, 
that should the improver thin out any portion, at once, to 
single trees, he will be greatly disappointed if he expects 
them to stand long; for the first severe autumnal gale 
will almost certainly prostrate them. The only method, 
therefore, is to allow them to remain in groups of con- 
siderable size at first, and to thin them out as is finally 
desired, when they have made stronger roots and become 
more inured to the influence of the sun and air. 



80 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

But to return to grouping ; what we have already en- 
deavored to render famihar to the reader, may be called 
grouping in its simple meaning — -for general effect, and 
with an eye only to the natural beauty of pleasing forms 
Let us now explain, as concisely as we may, the mode of 
grouping in the two schools of Landscape Gardening here- 
tofore defined, that is to say, grouping and planting for 
Beautiful effect, and for Picturesque effect ; as we wish it 
understood that these two different expressions, in artificial 
landscape, are always to a certain extent under our control. 

Planting and Grouping to produce the Beautiful. 
The elementary features of this expression our readers 
will remember to be fulness and softness of outline, and 
perfectly luxuriant development. To insure these in plan- 
tations, we must commence by choosing mainly trees of 
graceful habit and flowing outlines ; and of this class of 
trees, hereafter more fully illustrated, the American elm 
and the maple may be taken as the type. Next, in dis- 
posing them, they must usually be planted rather distant 
in the groups, and often singly. We do not mean by this, 
that close groups may not occasionally be formed, but there 
should be a predominance of trees grouped at such a dis- 
tance from each other, as to allow a full development of 
the branches on every side. Or, when a close group is 
planted, the trees composing it should be usually of the 
same or a similar kind, in order that they may grow up 
togethei and form one finely rounded head. Rich creepers 
and blossoming vines, that grow in fine luxuriant wreaths 
and masses, are fit accompaniments to occasional groups 
in this manner. Fig. 16 represents a plan of trees grouped 
along a road or walk, so as to develope the Beautiful. 

It is proper that we should here remark, that a distinct 
species of after treatment is required for the two modes. 
Trees, or groups, where the Beautiful is aimed at, should be 



ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. 



81 




[Fig. 16. Grouping to produce the Beautiful.] 



pruned with great. care, and indeed scarcely at all, except 
to remedy disease, or to correct a bad form. Above all, 
the full luxuriance and development of the tree should be 
encouraged by good soil, and repeated manurings when 
necessary ; and that most expressively elegant fall and 
droop of the branches, which so completely denotes the 
Beautiful in trees, should never be warred against by any 
trimming of the lower branches, which must also be care- 
fully preserved against cattle, whose hi^owsing line would 
soon efface this most beautiful disposition in some of our 
fine lawn trees. Clean, smooth stems, fresh and tender 
bark, and a softly rounded pyramidal or drooping head, 
are the characteristics of a Beautiful tree. We need not 
add that gently sloping ground, or surfaces rolling in easy 
undulations, should accompany such plantations. 

Planting and Grouping to produce the Picturesuue. 
All trees are admissible in a picturesque place, but a pre- 
dominance must be used by the planter of what are truly 

called picturesque trees, of which the larch and fir tribe 

G 



■82 



LANDSCAPE GARPKNING. 



and some species of oak, may be taken as examples. In 
Picturesque plantations everything depends on intricacy 




[Fig. 17 Grouping to produce the Picture?quc.] 

and irregularity, and grouping, therefore, must often be 
done in the most irregular manner — rarely, if ever, with 
single specimens, as every object should seem to connect 
itself with something else ; but most frequently there should 
be irregular groups, occasionally running into thickets, and 
always more or less touching each other ; trusting to after 
time for any thinning, should it be necessary. Fig. 17 
may, as compared with Fig. 16, give an idea of picturesque 
grouping. 

There should be more of the wildness of the finest and 
most forcible portions of natural woods or forests, in the 
disposition of the trees ; sometimes planting them closely, 
even two or three in the same hole, at others more loose 
and scattered. These will grow up into wilder and more 
striking forms, the barks will be deeply furrowed and rough, 
the limbs twisted and irregular, and the forms and outlines 
distinctly varied. They should often be intermixed with 
smaller undergrowth of a similar character, as the hazel, 
hawthorn, etc., and formed into such picturesque and strik 



ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. 83 

ing groups, as painters love to study and introduce into 
their pictures. Sturdy and bright vines, or such as are 
themselves picturesque in their festoons and hangings, 
should be allowed to clamber over occasional trees in a 
negligent manner ; and the surface and grass, in parts of 
the scene not immediately in the neighborhood of the 
mansion, may be kept short by the cropping of animals, or 
allowed to grow in a more careless and loose state, like that 
of tangled dells and natural woods. 

There will be the same open glades in picturesque as in 
beautiful plantations ; but these openings, in the former, 
will be bounded by groups and thickets of every form, and 
of different degrees of intricacy, while in the latter the 
eye will repose on softly rounded masses of foliage, or sin- 
gle open groups of trees, with finely balanced and graceful 
heads and branches. 

In order to know how a plantation in the Picturesque 
mode should be treated, after it is established, we should 
reflect a moment on what constitutes picturesqueness in 
any tree. This will be found to consist either in a certain 
natural roughness of bark, or wildness of form and outline, 
or in some accidental curve of a branch of striking manner 
of growth, or perhaps of both these conjoined. A broken 
or crooked limb, a leaning trunk, or several stems springing 
from the same base, are frequently peculiarities that at once 
stamp a tree as picturesque. Hence, it is easy to see that 
the excessive care of the cultivator of trees in the graceful 
school to obtain the smoothest trunks, and the most sweep- 
ing, perfect, and luxuriant heads of foliage, is quite the 
opposite of what is the picturesque arboriculturist's ambi- 
tion. He desires to encourage a certain wildness of growth, 
and allows his trees to spring up occasionally in thickets 



84 1. 4.VDSCAPE GARDENING. 

to assist this effect ; he delights in occasional irregularity 
of stem and outline, and he therefore suffers his trees here 
and there to crowd each other ; he admires a twisted limb 
or a moss covered branch, and in pruning he therefore is 
careful to leave precisely what it would be the aim of the 
other to remove ; and his pruning, where it is at all neces- 
sary, is directed rather towards increasing the naturally 
striking and peculiar habit of the picturesque tree, than 
assisting it in developing a form of unusual refinement and 
symmetry. From these remarks we think the amateur 
will easily divine, that planting, grouping, and culture to 
produce the Beautiful, require a much less artistic eye 
(though much more care and attention) than performing 
the same operations to elicit the Picturesque. The charm 
of a refined and polished landscape garden, as we usually 
see it in the Beautiful grounds with all the richness and 
beauty developed by high culture, arises from our admira- 
tion of the highest perfection, the greatest beauty of form, 
to which every object can be brought ; and, in trees, a 
judicious selection, with high cultivation, will always pro- 
duce this effect. 

But in the Picturesque landscape garden there is visible 
a piquancy of effect, certain bold and striking growths 
and combinations, which we feel at once, if we know them 
to be the result of art, to be the production of a pecuKar 
species of attention — not merely good, or even refined 
ornamental gardening. In short, no one can be a pictu- 
resque improver (if he has to begin with young plantations) 
who is not himself something of an artist — who has not 
studied nature with an artistical eye — and who is nol 
capable of imitating, eliciting, or heightening, in his plan- 
tations or other portions of his residence, the picturesqu? 



ON WOOD AND I'LANTATIOXS. 83 

in its many variations. And we may add here, that effi- 
cient and charming as is the assistance which all orna- 
mental planters will derive from the study of the best 
landscape engravings and pictures of distinguished artists, 
they are indispensably necessary to the picturesque im 
prover. In these he will often find embodied the choicest 
and most captivating studies from picturesque nature ; and 
will see at a glance the effect of certain combinations of 
trees, which he might otherwise puzzle himself a dozen 
years to know how to produce 

After all, as the picturesque improver here will most 
generally be found to be one who chooses a comparatively 
wild and wooded place, we may safely say that, if he has 
the true feeling for his work, he will always find it vastly 
easier than those who strive after the Beautiful ; as the 
majority of the latter may be said to begin nearly anew — • 
choosing places not for wildness aiid intricacy of wood, but 
for openness and the smiling, sunny, undulating plain, 
where they must of course to a good extent plant anew. 

After becoming well acquainted with grouping, we 
should bring ourselves to regard those principles which 
govern our improvements as a whole. We therefore must 
call the attention of the improver to the two following 
principles, which are to be constantly in view : the pro- 
duction of a lohole, and the proper connexion of the parts. 

Any person who will take the trouble to reflect for a mo- 
ment on the great diversity of surface, change of position, 
aspects, views, etc., in different country residences, will at 
once perceive how difficult, or, indeed, how impossible it 
is, to lay down any fixed or exact rules for arranging plan- 
tations in the modern style. What would be precisely 
adapted to a hilly rolling park, would often be found entire- 



8(3 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING. 

ly unfit for adoption in a smooth, level surface, and the 
contrary. Indeed, the chief beauty of the modern style is 
the variety produced by following a few leading principles 
and applying them to different and varied localities ; un 
lilvc the geometric style, which proceeded to level, and 
arrange, and erect its avenues and squares, alike in every 
situation, with all the precision and certainty of mathe- 
matical demonstration. 

In all grounds to be laid out, however, which are of a 
lawn or park-like extent, and call for the exercise of judg- 
ment and taste, the mansion or dwelling-house, being itself 
the chief or leading object in the scene, should form, as it 
were, the central point, to which it should be the object of 
the planter to give importance. In order to do this effec- 
tually, the large masses or groups of wood should cluster 
round, or form the back-ground to the main edifice ; and 
y/here the offices or out-buildings approach the same 
neighborhood, they also should be embraced. We do not 
mean by this to convey the idea, that a thick wood should 
be planted around and in the close neighborhood of the 
mansion or villa, so as to impede the free circulation of 
air ; but its appearance and advantages may be easily 
produced by a comparatively loose plantation of groups 
well connected by intermediate trees, so as to give all the 
effect of a large mass. The front, and at least that side 
nearest the approach road, will be left open, or nearly so ; 
while the plantations on the hack-ground will give dignity 
and importance to the house, and at the same time effectu- 
ally screen the approach to the farm buildings, and other 
objects which require to be kept out of view ; and here 
both for the purposes of shelter and richness of effect, a 
good proportion of evergreens should be introduced. 



Oi\ WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. 87 

From this principal mass, the plantations must break 
oir in groups of greater or less size, corresponding to the 
extent covered by it ; if large, they will diverge into 
masses of considerable magnitude, if of moderate size, in 
groups made up of a number of trees. In the lawn front 
of the house, appropriate places will be found for a number 
of the most elegant single trees, or small groups of trees, 
remarkable for the beauty of their forms, foliage, or blos- 
soms. Care must be taken, however, in disposing these, 
as well as many of the groups, that they are not placed so 
as, at some future time, to interrupt or disturb the finest 
points of prospect. 

In more distant parts of the plantations will also appear 
masses of considerable extent, perhaps upon the boundary 
line, perhaps in particular situations on the sides, or in the 
interior of the whole ; and the various groups which are 
distributed between should be so managed as, though in 
most cases distinct, yet to appear to be the connecting 
links which unite these distant shadows in the composition, 
with the larger masses near the house. Sometimes seve- 
ral small groups will be almost joined together ; at others 
the effect may be kept up by a small group, aided by a few 
neighboring single trees. This, for a park-like place. 
Where the place is small, a pleasure-g^-iound character is 
all that can be obtained. But by employing chiefly 
shrubs, and only a few trees, very similar and highly 
beautiful effects may be attained. 

The grand object in all this should be to open to the 
eye, from the windows or front of the house, a wide 
surface, partially broken up and divided by groups and 
masses of trees into a number of pleasing lawns or 
openmgs, differing -n size and appearance, and producing 



88 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING, 



a charming variety in the scene, either when seen from a 
given point or when examined in detail. It must not be 
forgotten that, as a general rule, the grass or surface of 
the lawn a)iswers as the principal light, and the woods or 
plantations as the shadows, in the same manner in nature 
as in painting ; and that these should be so managed as to 
lead the eye to the mansion as the most important object 
when seen from without, or correspond to it in grandeur 
and magnitude, when looked upon from within the house. 
If the surface is too much crowded with groups of foliage, 
breadth of light will be found wanting ; if left too bare, 
there will be felt, on the other hand, an absence of the 
noble effect of deep and broad shadows. 

One of the loveliest charms of a fine park is, undoubted- 
ly, variation or undulation of surface. Everything, 
accordingly, which tends to preserve and strengthen this 
pleasing character, should be kept constantly in view. 
Where, therefore, there are no obvious objections to such 
a course, the eminences, gentle swells, or hills, should be 
planted, in preference to the hollows or depressions. By 
planting the elevated portions of the grounds, theii 
apparent height is increased ; but by planting the hollows, 
all distinction is lessened and broken up. Indeed, where 
there is but a trifling and scarcely perceptible undulation, 
the importance of the swells of surface already existing is 
surprisingly increased, when this course of planting is 
adopted ; and the whole, to the eye, appears finely 
varied. 

Where the grounds of the residence to be planted are 
level, or nearly so, and it is desirable to confine the v'-ew. 
on any or all sides, to the lawn or park itself, the boundarv 
groups and masses must be so connected together a& frora 



ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. 89 

the most striking part or parts of the prospect (near the 
house for example) to answer this end. This should be 
done, not by planting a continuous, uniformly thick belt of 
trees round the outside of the whole ; but by so arranging 
the various outer groups and thickets, that when seen fi-om 
the given points they shall appear connected in one whole. 
In this way, there will be an agreeable variation in the 
margin, made by the various bays, recesses, and detached 
projections, which could not be so well effected if the 
whole were one uniformly unbroken strip of wood. 

But where the house is so elevated as to command a 
more extensive view than is comprised in the demesne 
itself, another course should be adopted. The grounds 
planted must be made to connect themselves with the 
surrounding scenery, so as not to produce any violent 
conti'ast to the eye, when compared with the adjoining 
country. If then, as is most frequently the case, the lawn 
or pleasure-ground join, on either side or sides, cultivated 
farm lands, the proper connexion may be kept up by 
advancing a few groups or even scattered trees into the 
neighboring fields. In the middle states there are but few 
cultivated fields, even in ordinary farms, where there is 
not to be seen, here and there, a handsome cluster of 
saplings or a few full grown trees ; or if not these, at 
least some tall growing bushes along the fences, all of 
which, by a Httle exercise of this leading principle of 
connexion, can, by the planter of taste, be made to appear 
with few or trifling additions, to divaricate from, and 
ramble out of the park itself Where the park joina 
natural woods, connexion is still easier, and where it 
bounds upon one of our noble rivers, lakes, or other large 
sneeis of water, of course connexion is not expected ; foi 



90 LANDSCAPE GAR! EN. NG. 

sudden contrast and transition is there both natural and 
beautiful. 

In all cases good taste will suggest that the more polished 
parts of the lawns and grounds should, whatever character 
IS attempted, be those nearest the house. There the most 
rare and beautiful sorts of trees are displayed, and the 
entire plantations agree in elegance with the style of art 
evinced in the mansion itself. When there is much extent, 
liowever, as the eye wanders from the neighborhood of the 
residence, the whole evinces less polish ; and gradually, 
towards the furthest extremities, grows ruder, until it assi- 
milates itself to the wildness of general nature around. 
This, of course, applies to grounds of large extent, and must 
not be so much enforced where the lawn embraced is but 
moderate, and therefore comes more directly under the 
e}^e. 

It will be remembered that, in the foregoing section, we 
stated it as one of the leading principles of the art of Land- 
scape Gardening, that in every instance where the grounds 
of a country residence have a marked natural character, 
whether of beautiful or picturesque expression, the efforts 
of the improver will be most successful if he contributes 
by his art to aid and strengthen that expression. This 
should ever be borne in mind when we are commencing 
any improvements in planting that will affect the general 
expression of the scene, as there are but few country resi- 
dences in the United States of any importance which have 
not naturally some distinct landscape character ; and the 
labors of the improver will be productive of much greater 
satisfaction and more lasting pleasure, when they aim at 
effects in keeping with the whole scene, than if no -egar' 
be paid to this important point. This will be felt almost 



ON WOOD AND PLANTATION?. 91 

intuitively by persons who, perhaps, would themseVes be 
nicapable of describing the cause of their gratification, but 
would perceive the contrary at once ; as many are unable 
to analyse the pleasure derived from harmony in music, 
while they at once perceive the introduction of discordant 
notes. 

We do not intend that this principle should apply so 
closely, that extensive grounds naturally picturesque shall 
have nothing of the softening touches of more perfect 
beauty ; or that a demesne characterized by the latter ex- 
pression should not be occasionally enlivened with a few 
" smart touches" of the former. This is often necessary, 
indeed, to prevent tame scenery from degenerating into 
insipidity, or picturesque into wildness, too great to be 
appropriate in a country residence. Picturesque trees 
give new spirit to groups of highly beautiful ones, and the 
latter sometimes heighten by contrast the value of the 
former. All of which, however, does not prevent the 
predominance of the leading features of either style, suffi- 
ciently strong to mark it as such ; while, occasionally, 
something of zest or elegance may be borrowed from the 
opposite character, to suit the wishes or gratify the taste 
of the proprietor. 

Ground plans of ornamental plantations. To 
illustrate partially our ideas on the arrangement of plan- 
tations we place before the reader two or three examples, 
premising that the small scale to which they are reduced 
prevents our giving to them any character beyond that of 
the general one of the design. The first (Fig. 20) repre- 
sents a portion, say one third or one half of a piece oi 
property selected for a country seat, and which has hitherto 
been kept in tillage as ordinary farm land. The public 



92 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING 




[F^ig. 18. Plan of a coninion Farm, befare any improvements.] 



road, a, is the boundary on one side : dd are prettily wooded 
dells or hollows, which, together with a few groups near 
the proposed site of the house, c, and a i^y^ scattered single 
trees, make up the aggregate of the original woody embel- 
lishments of the locality. 

In the next figure (Fig. 19) a ground plan of the place is 
given, as it would appear after having been judiciously 
laid out and planted, with several years' growth. At a, the 
approach road leaves the public highway and leads to the 
house at c : from whence paths of smaller size, h, make 
the circuit of the ornamental portion of the residence, 
taking advantage of the wooded dells, d, originally existing, 
which offer some scope for varied walks concealed from 
each other by the intervening masses of thicket. It wiZ 



ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. 



93 



;:ii;ni»ii; 




[Fig. 19. Plan of the lorcL'oing grounds us a Country Se:it, til'ter ten years' improvement] 

be seen here, that one of the largest masses of wood forms 
a background to the house, conceahng also the out-build- 
ings ; while, from the windows of the mansion itself, the 
trees are so arranged as to group in the most pleasing and 
etfective manner ; at the same time broad masses of turf 
meet the eye, and fine distant views are had through the 
vistas in the lines, e e. In this manner the lawn appears 
divided into four distinct lawns or areas bounded by groups 
of trees, instead of being dotted over with an unmeaning 
confusion of irregular masses of foliage. The form of these 
areas varies also with every change of position in the spec- 
tator, as seen from different portions of the grounds, or difTer- 
ent points in the walks ; and they can be still further varied 
at pleasure by adding more single trees or small groups, 
which should always, to produce varitty of outline, be 



94 



LAVDSCAPE GARDENING. 



placed opposite the salient parts of the wood, and not in the 
recesses, which latter they would appear to diminish or 
clog up. The stables are shown at /; the barn at g, and 
the kitchen garden adjacent at h ; the orchard at i ; and a 
small portion of the farm lands at k ; a back entrance to 
the out-buildings is shown in the rear of the orchard. The 
plan has been given for a place of seventy acres, thirty of 
which include the pleasure grounds, and forty the adjoin- 
ing farm lands. 

Figure 20 is the plan of an American mansion 




[fi>'. 20. Vki'.i ot a .Mansion Residence, laid out in tlie natiCTal itylcl 



ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. 95 

residence of considerable extent, only part of the farm 
lands, /, being here delineated. In, this residence, as there 
ys no extensive view worth preserving beyond the bounds 
of the estate, the pleasure grounds are surrounded by an 
irregular and picturesque belt of wood. A fine natural 
stream or rivulet, which ran through the estate, has been 
formed into a handsome pond, or small lake,/, which adds 
much to the interest of the grounds. The approach road 
breaks olT from the highway at the entrance lodge, a, 
and proceeds in easy curves to the mansion, h ; and the 
groups of trees on the side of this approach nearest the 
house, are so arranged that the visitor scarcely obtains 
more than a glimpse of the latter, until he arrives at the 
most favorable position for a first impression. From the 
windows of the mansion, at either end, the eye ranges 
over groups of flowers and shrubs ; while, on the entrance 
front, the trees are arranged so as to heighten the natural 
expression originally existing there. On the other front, 
the broad mass of light reflected from the green turf at h, 
is balanced by the dark shadows of the picturesque 
plantations which surround the lake, and skirt the whole 
boundary. At f, a light, inconspicuous wire fence 
separates that portion of the ground, g, ornamented with 
flowering shrubs and kept mown by the scythe, from' the 
remainder, of a park-like character, which is kept short by 
the cropping of animals. At c, are shown the stables, 
carriage house, etc., which, though near the approach 
road, are concealed by foliage, though easily accessible by 
a short curved road, returning from the house, so as not 
to present any road leading in the same direction, to 
detract from the dignity of the approach in going to it. 
A prospect tower, or rustic pavilion, on a little eminence 



96 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

overlooking the whole estate, is shown at j. The small 
arabesque beds near the house are filled with masses of 
choice flowering shrubs and plants ; the kitchen garden is 
shown at d, and the orchard at e. 

Suburban villa residences are, every day, becoming 
more numerous ; and in laying out the grounds around 
them, and disposing the sylvan features, there is often 
more ingenuity, and as much taste required, as in treating 
a country residence of several hundred acres. In the 
small area of from one half an acre to ten or twelve acres, 
surrounding often a villa of the first class, it is desirable 
to assemble many of the same features, and as much as 
possible of the enjoyment, which are to be found in a large 
and elegant estate. To do this, the space allotted to 
various purposes, as the kitchen garden, lav/n, etc., must 
be judiciously portioned out, and so characterized and 
divided by plantations, that the whole shall appear to be 
much larger than it really is, from the fact that the 
spectator is never allowed to see the whole at a single 
glance ; but while each portion is complete in itself, the 
plan shall present nothing incongruous or ill assorted. 

An excellent illustration of this species of residence, is 
afforded the reader in the accompanying plan (Fig. 21) of 
the grounds of Riverside Villa. This pretty villa a1 
Burlington, New Jersey (to which we shah again refer), 
was lately built, and the grounds, about six or eight acres 
in extent, laid out, from the designs of John Notman, Esq., 
architect, of Philadelphia ; and while the latter promise a 
large amount of beauty and enjoyment, scarcely anything 
which can be supposed necessary for the convenience or 
wants of the family, is lost sight of. 

The house, a, stands Quite near the bank of the river, 



ON WOOD AND PLANT ATIONS. 



97 




[Fig. 21. Plan of a Sul/urban Villa Residence.] 

while one front commands fine water views, and the other 
looks into the lawn or pleasure grounds, b. On one side 
of the area is the kitchen garden, c, separated and 
concealed from the lawn by thick groups of evergreen 
and deciduous trees. At e, is a picturesque orchard, in 
which the fruit trees are planted in groups instead of 
straight lines, for the sake of effect. Directly under the 
wmdows of the drawing-room is the flower garden,/; and 



98 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

at g, is a seat. The walk around the lawn is also a 
carriage road, affording entrance and egress from the rear 
of the grounds, for garden purposes, as well as from the 
front of the house. At h, is situated the ice-house ; d, 
hot-beds ; j, bleaching green ; i, gardener's house, etc. In 
the rear of the latter are the stables, which are not shown 
on the plan. 

The embellished farm [ferme ornee) is a pi'etty mode 
of combining something of the beauty of the landscape 
garden with the utility of the farm, and we hope to see 
small country seats of this kind become more general. As 
regards profit in farming, of course, all modes of arranging 
or distributing land are inferior to simple square fields ; 
on account of the greater facility of working the land in 
rectangular plots. But we suppose the owner of the small 
ornamental farm to be one with whom profit is not the 
first and only consideration, but who desires to unite 
with it something to gratify his taste, and to give a higher 
charm to his rural occupations. In Fig. 22, is shown part 
of an embellished farm, treated in the picturesque style 
throughout. The various fc*s©«% under grass or tillage, are 
divided and bounded by winding roads, a, bordered by 
hedges of buckthorn, cedar, and hawthorn, instead of 
wooden fences ; the roads being wide enough to afford 
a pleasant drive or walk, so as to allow the owner or 
v^isitor to enjoy at the same time an agreeable circuit, and 
a glance at all the various crops and modes of culture. 
In the plan before us, the approach from the public road 
is at h ; the dwelling at c ; the barns and farm-buildings 
at d; the kitchen garden at e; and the orchard at f. 
About the house are distributed some groups of trees, and 
here the fields, g, are kept in grass, and are either mown 



ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. 



99 




[Fig. 22. View of a PicUircsquc fiirin (fcrme orjiee).] 

or pastured. The fields in crops are designated h, on the 
plan ; and a few picturesque groups of trees are planted, 
or allowed to remain, in these, to keep up the general 
character of the place. A low dell, or rocky thicket, is 
situated at i,. Exceedingly interesting and agreeable 
effects may be produced, at little cost, in a picturesque 
farm of this kind. The hedges may be of a great variety 
of suitable shrubs, and, in addition to those that we have 
named, we would introduce others of the sweet brier, the 
Michigan or prairie rose (admirably adapted for the 
purpose), the flowering crab, and the like — ^beautiful and 
fragrant in their growth and blossoms. These hedges we 
would cause to grow thick, rather by interlacing the 
branches, than by constant shearing or trimming, which 
would give them a less formal, and a more free and 
natural air. The winding; lanes traversing the farm need 



100 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

only be gravelled near the house, in other portions being 
left in grass, which will need little care, as it will generally 
be kept short enough by the passing of men and vehicles 
over it. 

A picturesque or ornamental farm like this would be an 
agreeable residence for a gentleman retiring into the coun- 
try on a small farm, desirous of experimenting for himself 
with all the new modes of culture. The small and irregu- 
lar fields would, to him, be rather an advantage, and there 
would be an air of novelty and interest about the whole 
residence. Such an arrangement as this would also be 
suitable for a fruit farm near one of our large towns, the 
fields being occupied by orchards, vines, grass, and grain. 
The house and all the buildings should be of a simple, 
though picturesque and accordant character. 

The cottage ornee may have more or less ground attached 
to it. It is the ambition of some to have a great house and 
little land, and of others (among whom we remember the 
poet Cowley) to have a little house and a large garden. 
The latter would seem to be the more natural taste. When 
the grounds of a cottage are large, they will be treated by 
the landscape gardener nearly like those of a villa residence ; 
when they are smaller a more quiet and simple character 
must be aimed at. But even where they consist of only 
a rood or two, something tasteful and pretty may be ar- 
ranged.* In Fig. 23, is shown a small piece of ground on 
one side of a cottage, in which a picturesque character is 
attempted to be maintained. The plantations here are 
made mostly with shrubs instead of trees, the latter being 



• For a variety of modes of treating the grounds of small places, see oui 
Designs for Cottage Residences. 



ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. 



101 



only sparingly introduced for the want of room. In the 
disposition of these shrubs, however, the same attention to 
picturesque effect is paid as we have already pointed oul 
in our remarks on grouping ; and by connecting the thickets 
and groups here and there, so as to conceal one walk from 
the other, a surprising variety and effect will frequently bp 
produced in an exceedingly limited spot. 

The same limited grounds 

7 ^ might be planted so as to produce 

""^"'^ I the Beautiful ; choosing, in this 

case, shrubs of symmetrical 

5-0) ;5 growth and fine forms, planting 




^/^ and grouping them somewhat 
^ singly, and allowing every speci- 
men to attain its fullest luxuri- 
■ ^ ance of development. 

In making these arrangements, 
[Fig. 23. Grouniis of a Cottage orner.} e vcu lu the Small area of a fourth 

of an acre, we should study the same principles and en- 
deavor to produce the same harmony of effects, as if we 
were improving a mansion residence o'' the first class. The 
extent of the operations, and the sums lavished, are not by 
any means necessarily connected with successful and 
pleasing results. The man of correct taste will, by the aid 
of very limited means and upon a small surface, be able 
to afford the mind more true pleasure, than the improver 
who lavishes thousands without it, creating no other emo- 
tion than surprise or pity at the useless expenditure in- 
curred ; and the Abbe Delille says nothing more true than 
that, 



" Ce noble emploi demand un artiste qui pense, 
Prodigue de genie, et non pas de depense." 



102 LANDSCAPE GAUDENING. 

From the inspection of plans like these, the tyro may 
learn something of the manner of arranging plantations, 
and of the general effect of the natm-al style in particular 
cases and situations. But the knowledge they afford is so 
far below that obtained by an inspection of the effects in 
reality, that the latter should in all cases be preferred 
where it is practicable. In this style, unlike the ancient, 
it is almost impossible that the same plan should exactly 
suit any other situation than that for which it was intended, 
for its great excellence lies in the endless variety produced 
by its application to different sites, situations, and surfaces ; 
developing the latent capacities of one place and heighten- 
ing the charms of another. 

But the leading principles as regards the formation of 
plantations, which we have here endeavored briefly to 
elucidate, are the same in all cases. After becoming 
familiar with these, should the amateur landscape gardener 
be at a loss how to proceed, he can hardly do better, as we 
have before suggested, than to study and recur often to the 
beautiful compositions and combinations of nature, dis- 
played in her majestic groups, masses, and single trees, as 
well as open glades and deep thickets ; of which, fortu- 
nately, in most parts of our country, checkered here and 
there as it is with beautiful and picturesque scenery, there 
is no dearth or scarcity. Keeping these few principles in 
his mind, he will be able to detect new beauties and trans- 
fer them to his own estate ; for nature is truly inexhaustible 
in her resources of the Beautiful. 

Classification of trees as to expression. The 
amateur who wishes to dispose his plantations in the natu- 
ral style of Landscape Gardening so as to produce graceful 
or picturesque landscape, will be greatly aided by a study 



ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. 103 

of the peculiar expression of trees individually and in com 
position. The effect of a certain tree singly is often ex- 
ceedingly different from that of a group of the same trees. 
To be fully aware of the effect of groups and masses 
requires considerable study, and the progress in this study 
may be greatly facilitated by a recurrence from groups in 
nature to groups in pictures. 

As a further aid to this most desirable species of infor- 
mation we shall offer a few remarks on the principal vari- 
eties of character afforded by trees in composition. 

Almost all trees, with relation to forms, may be divided 
into three kinds, viz. round-headed trees, oblong or pyra- 
midal trees, and spiry-topped trees ; and so far as the 
expressions of the different species comprised in these dis- 
tinct classes are concerned, they are, especially when 
viewed at a distance (as much of the wood seen in a 
prospect of any extent necessarily must be), productive of 
nearly the same general effects. 

Round-headed trees compose by far the largest of these 
divisions. The term includes all those trees which have 
an irregular surface in their boughs, more or 
^^ less varied in outline, but exhibiting in the 
'•^eadtdTrees!^' wholc a top OT head comparatively round ; 
as the oak, ash, beech, and walnut. They are generally 
beautiful when young, from their smoothness, and the ele- 
gance of their forms ; but often grow picturesque when 
age and time have had an opportunity to produce their 
wonted effects upon them. In general, however, the dif- 
ferent round-headed trees may be considered as the most 
appropriate for introduction in highly-cultivated scenery, 
or landscapes where the character is that of graceful oi 
polished beauty ; as they harmonize with almost all scenes, 




104 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

buildings, and natural or artificial objects, uniting well with 
other forms and doing violence to no expression of scenery 
From the numerous breaks in the surface of their foliage, 
which reflect differently the lights and produce deep 
shadows, there is great intricacy and variety in the heads 
of many round-topped trees ; and therefore, as an outer 
surface to meet the eye in a plantation, they are much 
softer and more pleasing than the unbroken line exhibited 
by the sides of oblong or spiry-topped trees. The sky 
outline also, or the upper part of the head, varies greatly 
in round-topped trees from the irregularity in the dispo- 
sition of the upper branches in different species, as the 
oak and ash, or even between individual specimens of the 
same kind of tree, as the oak, of which we rarely see 
two trees alike in form and outline, although they have 
the same characteristic expression ; while on the other 
hand no two verdant objects can bear a greater general 
resemblance to each other and show more sameness ol 
figure than two Lombardy poplars. 

" In a tree," says Uvedale Price, " of which the foliage 
IS everywhere full and unbroken, there can be but little 
variety of form ; then, as the sun strikes only on the 
surface, neither can there be much variety of light and 
shade ; and as the apparent color of objects changes 
according to the different degrees of light or shade in 
which they are placed, there can be as little variety of 
tint ; and lastly, as there are none of these openings that 
excite and nourish curiosity, but the eye is everywhere 
opposed by one uniform leafy screen, there can be as 
little intricacy as variety." From these remarks, it will 
be perceived that even among round-headed trees there 
may be great difference in the comparative beauty of 



ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. 105 

different sorts ; and judging from the excellent standard 
here laid down, it will also be seen how much in the eye 
of a painter a tree with a beautifully diversified surface, 
as the oak, surpasses in the composition of a scene one 
with a very regular and compact surface and outline, as 
the horse-chestnut. In planting large masses of wood, 
therefore, or even in forming large groups in park scenery, 
round-headed trees of the ordinary loose and varied 
manner of growth cwnmon in the majority of forest trees, 
are greatly to be preferred to all others. When they 
cover large tracts, as several acres, they convey an 
emotion of grandeur to the mind ; when they form vast 
forests of thousands of acres, they produce a feeling of 
sublimity; in the landscape garden when they stand 
alone, or in fine groups, they are graceful or beautiful. 
While young they have an elegant appearance ; when old 
they generally become majestic or picturesque. Other 
trees may suit scenery or scenes of particular and 
decided characters, but round-headed trees are decidedly 
the chief adornment of general landscape. 

Spiry-topped trees (Fig. 25) are distinguished by 
straight leading stems and horizontal branches, which are 
comparatively small, and taper gradually 
to a point. The foliage is generally ever- 
green, and in most trees of this class 
^''•''- iSf'"' hangs in parallel or drooping tufts from 
the branches. The various evergreen trees, composing 
the spruce and fir families, most of the pines, the cedar, 
and among deciduous trees, the larch, belong to this 
division. Their hue is generally much darker than that 
of deciduous trees, and there is a strong similarity, oi 




lOG LANDSCAPE GARBENING. 

almost sameness, in the diflf^rent kinds of trees Avhich 
may properly be called spiry-topped. 

From their sameness of form and sm'face this class 
of trees, when planted in large tracts or masses, gives 
much less pleasure thaii round-headed trees ; and the eye 
is soon wearied with the monotony of appearance 
presented by long rows, groups, or masses, of the same 
form, outline, and appearance ;. to say nothing of the effect 
of the uniform dark color, unrelieved by the warmer tints 
of deciduous trees. Any one can bear testimony to this, 
v/ho has travelled through a pine, hemlock, or fir forest, 
where he could not fail to be struck with its gloom, 
tediousness, and monotony, especially when contrasted 
with the variety and beauty in a natural wood of 
deciduous, round-headed trees. 

Although spiry-topped trees in large masses cannot be 
generally admired for ornamental plantations, yet they 
have a character of their own, which is very striking and 
peculiar, and we may add, in a high degree valuable to 
the Landscape Gardener. Their general expression when 
single or scattered is extremely spirited, wild, and 
picturesque ; and when judiciously introduced into 
artificial scenery, they produce the most charming and 
unique effects. " The situations where they have most 
effect is among rocks and in very irregular surfaces, and 
especially on the steep sides of high mountains, where their 
forms and the direction of their growth seem to harmonize 
with the pointed rocky summits." Fir and pine forests are 
extremely dull and monotonous in sandy plains and 
smooth surfaces (as in the pine barrens of the southern 
states) ; but among the broken rocks, craggy precipices, 



ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. 107 

and otherwise endlessly varied surfaces (as in the Alps, 
abroad, and the various rocky heights in the Highlands 
of the Hudson and the Alleghanies, at home) they are 
full of variety. It will readily be seen, therefore, that 
spiry-topped trees should always be planted in considerable 
quantities in wild, broken, and picturesque scenes, where 
they will appear perfectly in keeping, and add wonderfully 
to the peculiar beauty of the situation. In all grounds 
where there are abruptly varied surfaces, steep banks, or 
rocky precipices, this class of trees lends its efficient aid 
to strengthen the prevailing beauty, and to complete the 
finish of the picture. In smooth, level surfaces, though 
spiry-topped trees cannot be thus extensively employea 
they are by no means to be neglected or thought valueless, 
but may be so combined and mingled with other round- 
headed and oblong-headed trees, as to pi'oduce very rich 
and pleasing effects. A tall larch or two, or a few spruces 
rising out of the centre of a group, give it life and spirit, 
and add greatly, both by contrast of form and color, to the 
force of round-headed trees. A stately and regular white 
pine or hemlock, or a few thin groups of the same trees 
peeping out from amidst, or bordering a large mass of 
deciduous trees, have great power in adding to the interest 
which the same awakens in the mind of the spectator. 
Care must be taken, however, that the very spirited effect 
which is here aimed at, is not itself defeated by the over 
anxiety of the planter, who, in scattering too profusely 
these very strongly marked trees, makes them at last so 
plentiful, as to give the whole a mingled and confused 
look, in which neither the graceful and sweeping outlines 
of the round-headed nor the picturesque summits of the 
spiry-topped trees predominate ; as the f.)rmer decidedly 




108 LANDSCAPE GARDENING, 

should, in all scenes where an expression of peculiarly 
irregular kind is not aimed at. 

The larch, to which we shall hereafter recur at some 
length, may be considered one of the most pictui'esque 
trees of this division ; and being more rapid in its growth 
than most evergreens, it may be used as a substitute for, 
or in conjunction with them, where effect is speedily 
desired. 

Oblong- headed trees show heads of foliage more length- 
ened out, more formal, and generally more tapering, than 
round-headed ones. They differ from spiry- 
topped trees in having upright branches instead 
of horizontal ones, and in forming a conical or 
Ti'etcfed *tree"f pyramidal mass of foliage, instead of a spiry, 
tufted one. They are mostly deciduous; and approaching 
more nearly to round-headed trees than spiry-topped ones 
do, they may perhaps be more frequently introduced. 
The Lombardy poplar may be considered the representa- 
tive of this division, as the oak is of the first, and the 
larch and fir of the second. Abroad, the oriental cypress, 
an evergreen, is used to produce similar effects in 
scenery. 

The great use of the Lombardy poplar, and other 
similar trees in composition, is to relieve or break into 
groups, large masses of wood. This it does very 
effectually, when its tall summit rises at intervals from 
among ro'jnd -headed trees, forming pyi*amidal centres 
to groups where there was only a swelling and flowing 
outline. Foimal rows, or groups of oblong-headed trees, 
however, are tiresome and monotonous to the last degree , 
a straight line of them being scarcely better in appearance 
than a tall, stiff, gigantic hedge. Examples of this can be 



ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS, 109 

easily found in many parts of the Union where the crude 
and formal taste of proprietors, by leading them to plant 
long lines of Lombardy poplars, has had the effect of 
destroying the beauty of many a fine prospect and 
building. 

Conical or oblong-headed trees, when carefully employed, 
are very effective for purposes of contrast, in conjunction 
with horizontal lines of buildings such as we see in 
Grecian or Italian architecture. Near such edifices, 
sparingly introduced, and mingled in small proportion 
with round-headed trees, they contrast advantageously 
with the long cornices, flat roofs, and horizontal lines that 
predominate in their exteriors. Lombardy poplars are 
often thus introduced in pictures of Italian scenery, where 
they sometimes break the formality of a long line of wall 
in the happiest manner. Nevertheless, if they should be 
indiscriminately employed, or even used in any con- 
siderable portion in the decoration of the ground 
immediately adjoining a building of any pretensions, 
they would inevitably defeat this purpose, and by their 
tall and formal growth diminish the apparent magnitude, 
as well as the elegance of the house. 

Drooping trees, though often classed with oblong- 
headed trees, differ from them in so many particulars, 
that they deserve to be ranked under a separate head. 
To this class belong the weeping willow, the weeping 
birch, the drooping elm, etc. Their prominent charac- 
teristics are gracefulness and elegance ; and we considei 
them as unfit, therefore, to be employed to any extent 
in scenes where it is desirable to keep up the expression 
of a wild or highly picturesque character. As single 
objects, or tastefully grouped in beautiful landscape, they 



110 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

are in excellent keeping, and contribute much to give 
value to the leading expression. 

When drooping trees are mixed indiscriminately with 
other round-headed trees in the composition of groups? 
or masses, much of their individual character is lost, as 
it depends not so much on the top (as in oblong and 
spiry trees) as upon the side branches, which are of 
course concealed by those of the adjoining trees. Droop- 
ing trees, therefore, as elms, birches, etc., are shown to 
the best advantage on the borders of groups or the 
boundaries of plantations. It must not be forgotten, but 
constantly kept in mind, that all strongly marked trees, 
like bright colors in pictures, only admit of occasional 
employment ; and that the very object aimed at in 
introducing them will be defeated if they are brought 
into the lawn and park in masses, and distributed 
heedlessly on every side. An English author very justly 
remarks, therefore, that the poplar, the willow, and the 
drooping birch, are " most dangerous trees in the hands 
of a planter who has not considerable knowledge and 
good taste in the composition of a landscape." Some of 
them, as the native elm, from their abounding in oui 
own woods, may appear oftener ; while others which 
have a peculiar and exotic look, as the weeping willow, 
should only be seen in situations where they either do 
not disturb the prevailing expression, or (which is better) 
where they are evidently in good keeping. " The weeping 
willow," says Gilpin, with his usual good taste, "is not 
adapted to sublime objects. We wish it not to screen 
the broken buttress and Gothic windows of an abbey, 
or to overshadow the battlemejits of a ruined castle. 
These offices it resigns to the oak, whose dignity can 



ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. Ill 

support them. The weeping willow seeks an humble 
scene — some romantic footpath bridge, which it half 
conceals, or some grassy pool over which it hangs its 
streaming foliage, ^ 

' And dips 




Its pendent boughs, as if to drink.' " * 

The manner in which a picturesque bit of landscape 
can be supported by picturesque spiry-topped trees, and 
its expression degraded by the injudicious employment 
of graceful drooping trees, will be apparent to the reader 
in the two accompanying little sketches. In the first (Fig. 
27), the abrupt hill, the rapid 
mountain torrent, and the distant 
Alpine summits, are in fine keep- 
ing with the tall spiry larches and 
[Fig. 2T. Tre'^s in lieeping.] firs, which, shooting up ou either 
side of the old bridge, occupy the foreground. In the 
second (Fig. 30), there is evidently something discordant 
in the scene which strikes the spectator at first sight ; this 
is the misplaced introduction of the large willows, which 
belong to a scene very different 
^5 ^■!f<.^'':^t^seft^,l^^.iii^!^^. in character. Imagine a removal 
of the surrounding hills, and let 
the rapid stream spread out into a 
[Fig. 28. Trees out of keeping.] smooth peaceful lake with gradu- 
illy retiring shores, and the blue summits in the distance 
and then the willows will harmonize admirably. 

Having now described the peculiar characteristics of 
these different classes of round-headed, spiry-topped 
oblong, and drooping trees, we should consider the proper 

» Forest Scener}', p. 133. 




112 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

method by which a harmonious combination of the 
aifferent forms composing them may be made so as not 
to violate correct pi'inciples of taste. An indiscriminate 
mixture of their different forms would, it is evident, 
produce anything but an agreeable effect. For example, 
let a person plant together in a group, three trees of 
totally opposite forms and expressions, viz. a weeping 
willow, an oak. and a poplar ; and the expression of the 
whole would be destroyed by the confusion resulting 
from their discordant forms. On the other hand, the 
mixture of trees that exactly correspond in their forms, if 
these forms, as in oblong or drooping trees, are similar, 
will infallibly create sameness. In order then to produce 
beautiful variety which shall neither on the one side run 
into confusion, nor on the other verge into monotony, it 
is requisite to give some little attention to the harmony 
of form and color in the composition of trees in artificial 
plantations. 

The only rules which we can suggest to govern the 
planter are these : First, if a certain leading expression is 
desired in a group of trees, together with as great a variety 
as possible, such species must be chosen as harmonize with 
each other in certain leading points. And, secondly, in 
occasionally intermingling trees of opposite characters, 
discordance may be prevented, and harmonious expression 
promoted, by interposing other trees of an intermediate 
character. 

In the first case, suppose it is desired to form a group 
of trees, in which gracefulness must be the leading 
expression. The willow alone would have the effect ; but 
in groups, willows alone produce sameness : in order 
therefore, to give variety, we must choose other trees 



ON WOOD AND PLA\TAllO\S. Hg 

which, while they differ from the willow in some 
particulars, agree in others. The elm has mucii larger 
and darker foliage, while it has also a drooping spray ; the 
weeping birch differs in its leaves, but agrees in the pensile 
flow of its branches ; the common birch has few pendent 
boughs, but resembles in the airy lightness of its leaves ; 
and the three-thorned acacia, though its branches are 
horizontal, has delicate foliage of nearly the same hue and 
floating lightness as the willow. Here we have a group 
of five trees, which is, in the whole, full of gracefulness 
and variety, while there is nothing in the composition 
inharmonious to the practised eye. 

To illustrate the second case, let us suppose a long 
sweeping outline of maples, birches, and other light, 
mellow-colored trees, which the improver wishes to vary 
and break into groups, by spiry-topped, evergreen trees. 
It is evident, that if these trees were planted in such a 
manner as to peer abruptly out of the light-colored foliage 
of the former trees, in dark or almost black masses of 
tapering verdure, the effect would be by no means so 
satisfactory and pleasing, as if there were a partial 
transition from the mellow, pale green of the maples, etc., 
lO the darker hues of the oak, ash, or beech, and finally 
the sombre tint of the evergreens. Thus much for the 
coloring ; and if in addition to this, oblong-headed trees 
or pyramidal trees were also placed near and partly 
intermingled with the spiry-topped ones, the unity of the 
whole composition would be still more complete.* 

* We are persiaded that very few persons are aware of the beauty, varied 
and endless, that may be produced by arranging trees with regard to their 
coloring. It requires the eye and genius of a Claude or a Pousnin, to 
ievelope all these hidden beauties of harmonious conibinatiou. Gilpin rightly 

S 



114 



LANDSCAPE GARDENMNG. 



C/ontrasts, again, are often admissible in woody scenery ; 
and we would not wish to lose many of our most superb 
trees, because they could not be introduced in particular 
portions of landscape. Contrasts in trees may be so 
violent as to be displeasing ; as in the example of the 
groups of the three trees, the willow, poplar, and oak : 
or they may be such as to produce spirited and pleasing 
effects. This must be effected by planting the different 
divisions of trees, first, in small leading groups, and then 
by effecting a union between the groups of different 
character, by intermingling those of the nearest similarity 
into and near the groups : in this way, by easy transitions 
from the drooping to the round-headed, and from these to 
the tapering trees, the whole of the foliage and forms 
harmonize well. 




|Fig, 29. E\!imple in groiipinf! 



" Trees," observes Mr. Whately, in his elegant treatise 
on this subject, " which differ in but orie of these 
circumstances, of shape, green, or growth, though they 
aofree in every other, are sufficiently distinguished for the 



Fays, in speaking of the dark Scotch fir, " with re5ard to color in general, 1 
."hink I speak the language of painting, when I assert that the picturesque eye 
makes little distinction in this matter. It has no attachment to one color in 
preference to another, but considers the beauty of all coloring as resulting, not 
from the colors themselves, but almost entirely from their harmony with nther 
lolors in their neighborhood. So that as the Scotch fir tree is combined or 
Btationed. it forms a beautiful umbrage or a murky spot." 



ox WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. 115 

purpose of variety ; if they differ in two or three, they 
become contrasts : if in all, they are opposite, and seldom 
group well together. Those, on the contrary, which are 
of one character, and are distinguished only as the 
characteristic mark is strongly or faintly impressed upon 
them, form a beautiful mass, and unity is preserved 
without sameness."* 

There is another circumstance connected with the 
color of trees, that will doubtless suggest itself to the 
improver of taste, the knowledge of which may sometimes 
be turned to valuable account. We mean the effects 
produced in the apparent coloring of a landscape by 
distance, which painters term aerial pe7'spective. Stand- 
ing at a certain position in a scene, the coloring is deep, 
rich, and full in the foreground, more tender and mellow 
in the middle-ground, and softening to a pale tint in the 
distance. 

'•■ Where to the eye three well marked distances 
Spread their peculiar coloring, vivid green, 
Warm brow^l, and black opake the foreground bears 
Conspicuous: sober olive coldly marks 
The second distance ; thence the third declines 
In softer blue, or lessening still, is lost 
In fainted purple. When thy taste is call'd 
To deck a scene where nature's self presents 
All these distinct gradations, then rejoice 
As does the Painter, and like him apply 
Thy colors ; plant thou on each separate part 
Its proper foliage." 

Advantage may occasionally be taken of this peculiarity 
in the gradation of color, in Landscape Gardening, by the 
creation as it were, of an artificial distance. In ground? 

* Obsei-vations on Modem Gardeniuir. 



116 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



and scenes of limited extent, the apparent size and 
breadth may be increased; by planting a majority of the 
trees in the foreground, of dark tints, and the boundary 
with foliage of a much lighter hue. 

An acquaintance, individually, with the different 
species of trees of indigenous and foreign growth, which 
may be cultivated with success in this climate, is 
absolutely essential to the amateur or the professor of 
Landscape Gardening. The tardiness or rapidity of their 
growth, the periods at which their leaves and flowers 
expand, the soils they love best, and their various habits 
and characters, are all subjects of the highest interest to 
him. In short, as a love of the country almost commences 
with a knowledge of its peculiar characteristics, the pure 
air, the fresh enamelled turf, and the luxuriance and 
oeauty of the whole landscape ; so the taste for the 
embellishment of Rural Residences must grow out of an 
admiration for beautiful trees, and the delightful effects 
they are capable of producing in the hands of persons of 
taste and lovers of nature. 

Admitting this, we think, in the comparatively meagre 
state of general information on this subject among us, we 
shall render an acceptable service to the novice, by giving 
a somewhat detailed description of the character and 
habits of most of the finest hardy forest and ornamental 
trees. Among those living in the country, there are 
many who care little for the beauties of Landscape 
Gardening, who are yet interested in those trees which 
are remarkable for the beauty of their forms, their foliage, 
tiieir blossoms, or their useful purposes. This, we hope, 
will be a sufficient explanation for the apparently 
disproportionate number of pages which we shall devote 
lo this part of our subject. 



DCCIDUO-JH ORNAMENTAL TREKS. 117 



SECTION IV. 

DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES, 
riu) tlistoiy and Description of all the finest hardy Deciduous Trees. Rkmauks on 

rillCtR SrjJiCTS IN LANDSCAPE GARDENING, INDIVIDUALLY AND IN COMPOSITION. Thell 

Cultivn'-ion, etc. The Oak. The Ehn. The Ash. The Linden. The Beech. The 
Poplir. The Horse-chestnut. The Birch. The Alder. The Maple. The Locust. 
The Thre(!-thorned Aciicia. The Judas-tree. The Chestnut. The Osajio Orange 
'J'he Mulberry. The Paper Mulberry. The Sweet Gum. The Walnut. The Hickory 
The Mountain A.?h. The Ailantus. The Kentucky ColTee. The Willow. The 
Sassafras. The Catalpa. The Persinion. The Pepperidge. The Thorn. The 
Magnolia. The Tulip. The Dogwood. The Salisbuiia. The I'aulonia. The Virgilia 
The Cypress. The Larch, etc. 

O gloriosi spirit! de gli boschi, 

O Eco, o antri foschi, o chiare linfe, 

O faretrate ninfe, o agresti Pani, 

Satiri e Silvani, o Fauiii e Driadi, 

Naiadi ed Amadriadi, o Semidee 

Oreadi e Napee. — 

Sannazz.iki 

" Fpirits of the woods, 

Echoes and solitudes, and lakes of light ; 

quivered virgins bright. Pan's rustical 

Satyrs and sylvans all, dryads and ye 

That up the mountains be ; and ye beneath 

In meadow or in flowery heath." 

The Oak. Qitercus. 

Nat. Old. Corylaceae Lin. Syst. Moncecia, Polyandria. 

-v^i^,^s£^i«'{^^ H E Arcadians believed the oak t.o have 
J f^ been the first created of all trees ; and 
when we consider its great and surpassing 
utility and beauty, we are fully dispustvl 
:o concede it the fu'st rank amona; the denizens of the 




lis LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

forest. Springing up with a noble trunk, and stretcliing 
out its broad limbs over the soil, 

" These monarchs of tlie wood. 
Dark, gnarled, centennial oaks," 

seem proudly to bid defiance to time ; and while generations 
of man appear and disappear, they withstand the storms of 
a thousand winters, and seem only to grow more venerable 
and majestic. They are mentioned in the oldest histories ; 
we are told that Absalom was caught by his hair in " the 
thick bouo-hs of a c;reat oak ;" and Herodotus informs us 
that the first oracle was that of Dodona, set up in the 
celebrated oak grove of that name. There, at first, the 
oracles were delivered by the priestesses, but, as was after- 
wards believed, by the inspired oaks themselves — 

" Which in Dodona did enshrine, 
So faith too fondly deemed, a voice divine." 

Acorns, the fruit of the oak, appear to have been held in 
considerable estimation as an article of food among the 
ancients. Not only were the swine fattened upon them, as 
in our own forests, but they were ground into flour, with 
which bread was made by the poorer classes. Lucretius 
mentions, that before grain was known they were the com- 
mon food of man ; but we suppose the fruit of the chestnut 
may also have been included under that term. 

" That oake whoso acomes were our foode before 
The Cerese seede of mortal man was knowne." 

Spenser. 

The civic crown, given in the palmy days of Rome to 
the most celebrated men, was also composed of oak leaves 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 1 1!» 

It should not be forgotten that the oak was worshipped 
oy the ancient Britons. Baal or Yiaoul (whence Yule) 
was the god of fire, whose symbol was an oak. Hence at 
his festival, which was at Christmas, the ceremony of. kin- 
dling the Yule log was performed among the ancient Druids. 
This fire was kept perpetual throughout the year, and the 
hearths of all the people were annually lighted from these 
sacred fires every Christmas. We believe the curious 
custom is still extant in some remote parts of England, 
where the " Yule log" is ushered in with much glee and 
rejoicing once a year. 

As an ornamental object we consider the oak the most 
varied in expression, the most beautiful, grand, majestic, 
and picturesque of all deciduous trees. The enormous 
size and extreme old age to which it attains in a favorable 
situation, the great space of ground that it covers with its 
branches, and the strength and hardihood of the tree, all 
contribute to stamp it with the character of dignity and 
grandeur beyond any other compeer of the forest. When 
young its fine foliage (singularly varied in many of our 
native species) and its thrifty form render it a beautiful 
tree. But it is not until the oak has attained considerable 
size that it displays its true character, and only when at an 
age that would terminate the existence of most other trees 
that it exhibits all its magnificence. Then its deeply fur- 
rowed trunk is covered with mosses ; its huge branches, 
each a tree, spreading out horizontally from the trunk with 
great boldness, its trunk of huge dimension, and its " high 
top, bald with dry antiquity ;" all these, its true character- 
istics, stamp the oak, as Virgil has expressed it in his 
Georgics — 



\'20 LANDSCAPE GAKUENINO. 

" Jove's own tree, 
That holds the woods in awful sovereignty 
For length of ages lasts his happy reign. 
And lives of mortal man contend in vain. 
Full in the midst of his own strength he stands, 
Stretching his brawny arms and leafy hands, 
His shade protects the plains, his head the hills commands." 

Dryden's Tkans. 

" The oak," says Gilpin, " is confessedly the most pictu- 
resque tree in itself, and the most accommodating in com- 
position. It refuses no subject either in natural or in 
artificial landscape. It is suited to the grandest, and may 
with propriety be introduced into the most pastoral. It 
adds new dignity to the ruined tower and the Gothic arch ; 
and by stretching its wild, moss-grown branches athwart 
their ivied walls, it gives them a kind of majesty coeval 
with itself; at the same time its propriety is still preserved 
if it throws its arms over the purling brook or the mantling 
pool, where it beholds 

" Its reverend image in the expanse below." 
Milton introduces it happily even in the lowest scene- 

" Hard by a cottage chimney smokes. 
From between two aged oaks." 

The oak is not only one of the grandest and most pictu- 
resque objects as a single tree upon a lawn, but it is equally 
unrivalled for groups and masses. There is a breadth about 
the lights and shadows reflected and embosomed in its 
foliage, a singular freedom and boldness in its outline, and 
n pleasing richness and intricacy in its huge ramification 
of branch and limb, that render it highly adapted to these 
purposes. Some trees, as the willow or the spiry poplar 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 



121 



ihougli pleasing singly, are monotonous to the last degree 
when planted in quantities. Not so, however, with the 
oak, as there is no tree, when forming a wood entirely by 
itself, which affords so great a variety of form and dispo- 
sition, light and shade, symmetry and irregularity, as this 
king of the forests. 

To arrive at its highest perfection, ample space on every 
side must be allowed the oak. A free exposure to the sun 
and air, and a deep mellow soil, are highly necessary to its 
fullest amplitude. For this reason, the oaks of our forests 







[Fig. SO. The Charter Oak, Harlfonl.] 



being thickly crowded, are seldom of extraordinary size ; 
and there are more truly majestic oaks in the parks of 
England than are to be found in the whole cultivated por- 
tion of the United States. Here and there, however, 
throughout our country maybe seen a solitary oak of o;reat 



r22 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

age and immense size, which attests the fitness of the soil 
and climate, and displays the grandem* of our native species 
The Wadsworth Oak near Geneseo, N. Y., of extraordinarv 
dimensions, the product of one of our most fertile valleys. 
has attracted the admiration of hundreds of travellers on 
the route to Niagara. Its trunk measures thirty-six feet in 
circumference. The celebrated Charter Oak at Hartford, 
which has figured so conspicuously in the history of New 
England, is still existing in a green old age, one of the most 
interesting monuments of the past to be found in the 
country. 

Near the village of Flushing, Long Island, on the farm 
of Judge Lawrence, is growing one of the noblest oaks in 
the country. It is truly park-like in its dimensions, the 
circumference of the trunk being nearly thirty feet, and its 
majestic head of corresponding dignity. In the deep 
alluvial soil of the western valleys, the oak often assumes 
a grand aspect, and bears witness to the wonderful fertility 
of the soil in that region. 



Different species of Oak. This country is peculiarly 
rich in various kinds of oak ; Michaux enumerating no less 
than forty species indigenous to North America. Of these 
the most useful are the Live oak (Quercus virens), of such 
inestimable value for ship-building ; the Spanish oak (Q. 
falcata) ; the Red oak (Q. rubra), etc., the bark of whicii 
is extensively used in tanning ; the Quercitron or Black 
oak, which is highly valuable as affording a fine yellow or 
brown dye for wool, silks, paper-hangings, etc. ; and the 
White oak, which is chiefly used li r timber. We shall 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TUEE3. IO3 

here describe only a few of those which are most entitled 
to the consideration of the planter, either for their valuable 
properties or as ornamental trees, and calculated for plant- 
ing in woods or single masses. 

The White oak. {Qiiercus alba.) This is one of the most 
common of the American oaks, being very generally dis- 
tributed over the country, from Canada to the southern 
states. In good strong soils it forms a tree 70 or 80 feet 
high, with wide extending branches ; but its growth de- 
pends much upon this circumstance. It may readily be 
known even in winter by its whitish bark, and by the dry 
and withered leaves which often hang upon this species 
through the whole of that season. The leaves are about 
four inches wide and six in length, divided uniformly into 
rounded lobes without points ; these lobes are deeper in 
damp soils. When the leaves first unfold in the spring 
they are downy beneath, but when fully grown they are 
quite smooth, and pale green on the upper surface and 
whitish or glaucous below. The acorn is oval and the cup 
somewhat flattened at the base. This is the most valuable 
of all our native oaks, immense quantities of the timber 
being used for various purposes in building ; and staves of 
the white oak for barrels are in universal use throughout 
the Union. The great occasional size and fine form of this 
tree, in some natural situations, prove how noble an object 
it would become when allowed to expand in full vigor and 
majesty in the open air and light of the park. It more 
nearly approaches the English oak in appearance than any 
other American species. 

Rock Chestnut oak. (Q. Prinus Monticola.) This is 
one of the most ornamental of our oaks, and is found in 
considerable abundance in the middle states. It has the 



124 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

peculiar advantage of growing well on the most barren and 
rocky soils, and can therefore be advantageously employed 
by the landscape gardener, when a steep, dry, rocky bank ia 
to be covered with trees. In deep, mellow soil, its growth 
is wonderfully vigorous, and it rapidly attains a height of 
50 or GO feet, with a corresponding diameter. The head 
is rather more symmetrical in form and outline than most 
trees of this genus, and the stem, in free, open places, shoots 
up into a lofty trunk. The leaves are five or six inches 
long, three or four broad, oval and uniformly denticulated, 
with the teeth more regular but less acute than the Chest- 
nut white oak. When beginning to open in the spring 
they are covered with a thick down ; but when fully ex- 
panded they are perfectly smooth and of a delicate texture. 
M Id MUX. 

Chestnut White oak. {Quercus Prinus palustris.) 
This species much resembles the last, but differs in 
having longer leaves, which are obovate, and deeply 
toothed. It is sparingly found in the northern states, and 
attains its greatest altitude in the south, where it is often 
seen 90 feet in height. Though generally found in the 
neighborhood of swamps and low grounds, it grows with 
wonde]"ful rapidity in a good, moderately dry soil, and 
from the beauty of its fine spreading head, and the 
quickness of its growth, is highly deserving of introduction 
into our plantations. 

The Yellow oak. (Q. Pj-inus acuminata) The 
Yellow oak may be found scattered through our woods 
over nearly the whole of the Union. Its leaves are 
lanceolate, and regularly toothed, light green above, and 
whitish beneath ; the acorns small. It forms a stately 
tree, 70 feet high ; and the branches are more upright in 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 125 

their growth, and more clustering, as it were, round the 
central trunk, than other species. The beauty of its long 
pointed leaves, and their peculiar mode of growth, 
recommend it to mingle with other trees, to which it 
will add variety. 

The Pin oak. (Q. palusti'is) The Pin oak forms a 
tree in moist situations, varying in height from 60 to 80 
feet. The great number of small branches intermingleu 
with the large ones, have given rise to the name of this 
variety. It is a hardy, free growing species, particularly 
upon moist soils. Loudon considers it, from its " far 
extending, drooping branches, and light and elegant 
foliage," among the most graceful of oaks. It is well 
adapted to small groups, and is one of the most thrifty 
growing and easily obtained of all our northern oaks. 

The Willow oak. (Q. Phellos) This remarkable 
species of oak may be recognised at once by its narrow, 
entire leaves, shaped almost like those of the willow, and 
about the same size, though thicker in texture. It is not 
found wild north of the barrens of New Jersey, where it 
grows plentifully, but thrives well in cultivation much 
further north. The stem of this tree is remarkably smooth 
in every stage of its growth. It is so different in 
appearance and character from the other species of this 
genus, that in i)lantations it would never be recognised by 
a person not conversant with oaks, as one of the family. 
It deserves to be introduced into landscapes for its 
singularity as an oak, and its lightness and elegance ol 
Joliage individually. 

The Mossy-cup oak. (Q. olivccforjjiis ) This is so 
called because the scales of the cups terminate in a long, 
rnoss-like fringe, nearly covering the acorn. It is quite a 



126 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

rare species, being only found on the upper banks of the 
Hudson, and on the Genesee river. The foliage is fine, 
large, and deeply cut, and the lower branches of the tree 
droop in a beautiful manner when it has attained some 
considerable size. Quercus ?nacrocarpa, the Over-cup 
White oak, is another beautiful kind found in the westerr 
states, which a good deal resembles the Mossy-cup oak in 
the acorn. The foliage, however, is uncommonly fine, 
being the largest in size of any American species ; fifteen 
inches long, and eight broad. It is a noble tree, with fine 
deep green foliage ; and the growth of a specimen planted 
in our grounds has been remarkably vigorous. 

Scarlet oak. (^Quercus coccinea.) A native of the 
middle states ; a noble tree, often eighty feet high. The 
leaves, borne on long petioles, are a bright lively green on 
both surfaces, with four deep cuts on each side, widest at 
the bottom. The great and peculiar beauty of this tree, 
we conceive to be its property of assuming a deep scarlet 
tint in autumn. At that period it may, at a great 
distance, bo distinguished from all other oaks, and indeed 
from every other forest tree. It is highly worthy of a 
place in every plantation. 

The Live oak. {Quercus virens) This fine species 
will not thrive north of Virginia. Its imperishable timber 
IS the most valuable in our forests ; and, at the south, it is 
a fine park tree, when cultivated, growing about 40 feet 
nigh, with, however, a rather wide and low head. The 
thick oval leaves are evergreen, and it is much to be 
regretted that this noble tree will not bear our northern 
winters. 

The English Royal oak. (Q. rohur.) This is the great 
representative of the family in Europe, and is one of the 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 127 

most magnificent of the genus, growing often in the fine 
old woods and parks of England, to eighiy and one 
hundi'ed feet in height. The branches spread over a 
great surface. " The leaves are petiolated, smooth, and 
of a uniform color on both sides, enlarged towards the 
summit, and very coarsely toothed." As a single tree foi 
park scenery, this equals any American species in majesty 
of form, though it is deficient in individual beauty of 
foliage to some of our oaks. It is to be found for sale in 
our nurseries, and we hope will become well known 
among us. The timber is closer grained and more 
durable, though less elastic than the best American oak , 
and Michaux, in his Sylva, recommends its introduction 
into this country largely, on these accounts. 

The Turkey oak. (Q. Cerris.) There are two 
beautiful hybrid varieties of this species, which have 
been raised in England by Messrs. Lucombe and Fulham, 
which we hope will yet be found in our ornamental 
plantations. They are partially evergreen in winter, 
remarkably luxuriant in their growth, attaining a height 
of seventy or eighty feet, and elegant in foliage and 
outline. The Lucombe and Fulham oaks grow from one 
to five feet in a season ; the trees assume a beautiful 
j)yramidal shape, and as they retain their fine glossy 
leaves till May, they would form a fine contrast to other 
deciduous trees. 

We might here enumerate a great number of other fine 
foreign oaks ; among which the most interesting are the 
Holly or Holm oak (Quercus Ilex) ; and the Cork oak 
(Q. Sube?-), of the south of France, which produces the 
cork of commerce (both rather too tender for the north) ; 
the Kermes oak (Q. coccifera), from which a scarlet dye 



138 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

is obtained ; and the Italian Esculent oak (Q. Esculus), 
with sweet nutritious acorns. Those, however, who 
wish to investigate thenr), will pursue this subject further 
in European works ; while that splendid treatise on our 
forest trees, the North American Sylva of Michaux, will 
be found to give full and accurate descriptions of all our 
numerous indigenous varieties, of which many are 
peculiar to the southern states. 

The oak flourishes best on a strong loamy soil, rather 
moist than dry. Here at least the growth is most rapid, 
although, for timber, the wood is generally not so sound 
on a moist soil as a dry one, and the tree goes to decay 
more rapidly. Among the American kinds, however, 
some may be found adapted to every soil and situation, 
though those species which grow on upland soils, in 
stony, clayey, or loamy bottoms, attain the greatest size 
and longevity. When immense trees are desired, the oak 
should either be transplanted very young, or, which \s 
preferable, raised from the acorn sown where it is finall} 
to remain. This is necessary on account of the ver) 
large tap roots of this genus of trees, which are eithei 
entirely destroyed or greatly injured by removal. Trans 
planting this genus of trees should be performed eithei 
early in autumn, as soon as the leaves fall or become 
brown, or in spring before the abundant rains commence 



The Elm. Ubmis 
Nat. Ord. Ulmaceab. Lin. Syst. Pentandria, Digynia. 

We have ascribed to the oak t'ne cnaracter of pre 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 129 

aminent dignity and majesty among the trees of the forest. 
Let us now claim for the ehii the epithets graceful and 
elegant. This tree is one of the noblest in the size c f its 
trunk, while the branches are comparatively tapering and 
slender, forming themselves, in most of the species, into 
lono; ana frraceful curves. The flowers are of a chocolate 
or purple color, and appear in the month of April, before 
the leaves. The latter are light and airy, of a pleasinc 
light green in the spring, growing darker, however, as the 
season advances. The elm is one of the most common 
trees in both continents, and has been well known for its 
beauty and usefulness since a remote period. In the 
south of Europe, particularly in Lombardy, elm trees are 
planted in vineyards, and the vines are trained in festoons 
from tree to tree in the most picturesque manner. Tasso 
alludes to this in the followino- stanza : 



' Corne olmo, a cui la pampinosa pianta 
Cupida s'avviticchi e si marite ; 
Se feiTO il tronca, o fulmine lo schianta 
Trae seco a lerra la compagna vite." 

Gerusalemme Liherata, 2. 326. 



It is one of the most common trees for public walks 
and avenues, along the highways in France and Germany, 
growing v/ith great rapidity, and soon forming a widely 
extended shade. In Europe, the elm is nmch used for 
keels in ship-building, and is remarkably durable in water; 
more extensive use is made of it there than of the 
American kinds" in this country, though the wood of the 
fled American elm is more valuable than any other in 
the United States for the blocks used in ship rigging. 

For its graceful beauty the elm isr entitled to high 



130 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

regard. Standing alone as a single tree, or in a group 
of at most three or four in number, it developes itself in 
all its perfection. The White American elm we consider 
the most beautiful of the family, and to this we more 
particularly allude. In such situations as we have just 
mentioned, this tree developes its fine ample form in the 
most perfect manner. Its branches first spring up em- 
bracing the centre, then bend off in finely diverging lines, 
until in old trees they often sweep the ground with their 
loose pendent foliage. With all this lightness and peculiar 
gracefulness of form, it is by no means a meagre looking 
tree in the body of its foliage, as its thick tufted masses 
of leaves reflect the sun and embosom the shadows as 
finely as almost any other tree, the oak excepted. We 
consider it peculiarly adapted for planting, in scenes 
where the expression of elegant or classical beauty is 
desired. In autumn the foliage assumes a lively yellow 
tint, contrasting well with the richer and more glowing 
colors of our native woods. Even in winter it is a 
pleasing object, from the minute division of its spray and 
the graceful droop of its branches. It is one of the most 
generally esteemed of our native trees for ornamental 
purposes, and is as great a favorite here as in Europe for 
planting in public squares and along the highways. 
Beautiful specimens may be seen in Cambridge, Mass., 
and very fine avenues of this tree are growing with great 
luxuriance in and about New Haven.* The charming 
villages of New England, among which Northampton 
and Springfield are pre-eminent, borrow from the superb 
and wonderfully luxuriant elms which decorate their fine 

• The great elm of Boston Common is 22 feet in circumference. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 13] 

streets and avenues, the greater portion of their peculial 
loveliness. The elm should not be chosen where large 
groups and masses are required, as the similarity of its 
form in different individuals might then create a mo- 
notony ; but as we have before observed, it is peculiarly 
well calculated for small groups, or as a single object. 
The roughness of the bark, contrasting with the lightness 
of its foliage and the easy sweep of its branches, adds 
much also to its effect as a whole. 

We shall briefly describe the principal species of the 
elm. 

The American White elm. (JJlmus Americana.) This 
is the best known and most generally distributed of our 
native species, growing in greater or less profusion over 
the whole of the country included between Lower Canada 
and the Gulf of Mexico. It often reaches 80 feet in 
height in fine soils, with a diameter of 4 or 5 feet. The 
leaves are alternate, 3 or 4 inches long, unequal in size 
at the base, borne on petioles half an inch to an inch in 
length, oval, acuminate, and doubly denticulated. The 
seeds are contained in a flat, oval, winged seed-vessel, 
fringed with small hairs on the margin. The flowers, 
of a dull purple color, are borne in small bunches on 
short footstalks at the end of the branches, and appear 
very early in the spring. This tree prefers a deep rich 
soil, and grows with greater luxuriance if it be rather 
moist, often reaching in such situations an altitude of 
nearly 100 feet. It is found in the greatest perfection in 
the alluvial soils of the fertile valleys of the Connecticut, 
the Mississippi, and the Ohio rivers. 

The Red or Slippery elm. (U. fulva) A tree of 



132 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

lower size than the White elm, attaining generally onl^ 
40 or 50 feet. According to Michaux, it may be 
distinguished from the latter even in winter, by its buds, 
which are larger and rounder, and which are covered a 
Ibrtnight before their development with a russet down 
The leaves are larger, rougher, and thicker than those 
of the White elm ; the seed-vessels larger, destitute of 
fringe ; the stamens short, and of a pale rose color. This 
tree bears a strong likeness to the T3utch elm, and the 
bark abounds in mucilage, whence the name of Slippery 
elm. The branches are less drooping than those of the 
White elm. 

The Wahoo elm (Z7. alaia) is not found north of 
Virginia, It may at once be known in every stage of 
its growth by the fungous cork-like substance which 
lines the branches on both sides. It is a very singular 
and curious tree, of moderate stature, and grows rapidly 
and well when cultivated in the northern states. 

The common European elm. (U. camjoestris) This 
is the most commonly cultivated forest tree in Europe, 
next to the oak. It is a more upright growing tree tlian 
the White elm, though resembling it in the easy 
disposition and delicacy of its branches. The flowers, 
of a purple color, are produced in round bunches close 
to the stem. The leaves are rough, doubly serrated, 
and much more finely cut than those of our elms. It 
is a fine tree, 60 or 70 feet high, growing with rapidity, 
and is easily cultivated. The timber is more valuable 
than the American sort, though the tree is inferior to 
the White elm in beauty. There are some dozen or 
more fine varieties of this species cultivated in the 
English nurseries, among which the most remarkable are 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 133 

the Twisted elm (U. c. tortuosa), the trunk of which is 
singularly marked with hollows and protuberances, and 
the grain of the wood curiously twisted together : the 
Kidbrook elm (Z7. c. virens), which is a sub-evergreen : 
the Gold and Silver striped elms, with variegated leaves, 
and the Narrow-leaved elm {U. c. viminalis), which 
resembles the birch : the Cork-barked elm (U. c. suherssa), 
the young branches of which are covered with cork, etc. 

The latter is one of the hardiest and most vigorous 
of all ornamental trees in this climate. It thrives in 
almost every soil, and its rich, dark foliage, which hangs 
late in autumn, and its somewhat picturesque form, 
should recommend it to every planter. 

The Scotch or Wych elm. {U. montana) This is a 
tree of lower stature than the common European elm, 
its average height being about 40 feet. The leaves are 
broad, rough, pointed, and the branches extend more 
horizontally, drooping at the extremities. The bark on 
the branches is comparatively smooth. It is a grand tree, 
" the head is so finely massed and yet so well broken as 
to render it one of the noblest of park trees ; and when 
it grows wild amid the rocky scenery of its native 
Scotland, there is no tree which assumes so great or so 
pleasing a variety of character."* In general appearance, 
the Scotch elm considerably resembles our White elm, 
and it is a very rapid grower. Its most ornamental 
varieties are the Spiry-topped elm ( U. m. fastigiata), 
with singularly twisted leaves, and a very upright growth ; 
the weeping Scotch elm (U. m. pendula), a very 
remarkable variety, the branches of which droop in a 

« Sir Thos. Lauder, in Gilpin, 1. 91. 



134 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

fan-like manner : and the Smooth-leaved Scotch elm (V 
m. glabra). 

There is scarcely any soil to which some of the 
different elms are not adapted. The European species 
prefer a deep, dry soil ; the Scotch or Wych elm will 
thrive well even in very rocky places ; and the White 
elm grows readily in all soils, but most luxuriantly in 
moist places. All the species attain their maximum size 
when planted in a deep loam, rather moist than dry. 
They bear transplanting remarkably well, suffering but 
little even from the mistaken practice of those persons 
who reduce them in transplanting to the condition of 
bare poles, as they shoot out a new crop of branches, 
and soon become beautiful young trees in spite of the 
mal-treatment. As the elm scarcely produces a tap 
root, even large trees may be removed, when the 
operation is skilfully performed. In such cases, the 
recently-removed tree should be carefully and plentifully 
supplied with water until it is well established in its 
new situation. The elm is also easily propagated by 
seed, layers, or, in some species, by suckers from the 
root. 



The Plane or Buttonwood Tree. Platanus. 

Nat. Ord. Platanacese. Lin. Syst. Moncecia, Polyandria. 

The plane, Platanus derives its name from -rXaTug, 
broad, on account of the broad, umbrageous nature of its 
branches. It is a well known tree of the very largest 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 135 

size, common to both hemispheres, and greatly prized 
lor the fine shade afforded by its spreading head, in 
the warmer parts of Europe and Asia. No tree was in 
greater esteem with the ancients for this purpose ; and 
we are told that the Academic groves, the neighborhood 
of the public schools, and all those favorite avenues where 
the Grecian philosophers were accustomed to resort, were 
planted with these trees ; and beneath their shade 
Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates, delivered the choicest 
wisdom and eloquence of those classic days. The 
Eastern plane (Platanus orientalis) was first brought 
to the Roman provinces from Persia, and so highly was 
it esteemed that according to Pliny, the Morini paid a 
tribute to Rome for the privilege of enjoying its shade. 
To that author we are also indebted for the history of the 
great plane tree that grew in the province of Lycia, 
which was of so huge a size, that the governor of the 
province, Licinius Mutianus, together with eighteen of 
his retinue, feasted in the hollow of its trunk. 

In the United States, the plane is not generally found 
growing in great quantities in any one place, but is more 
or less scattered over the whole country. In deep, moist, 
alluvial soils, it attains a size scarcely, if at all, inferior to 
that of the huge trees of the eastern continent ; forming 
at least, in the body of its trunk, a larger circumference 
than any other of our native .trees. The younger 
Michaux (Sylva, 1, 325) measured a tree near Marietta, 
Ohio, which at four feet from the ground was found to be 
forty-seven feet in circumference ; and a specimen has 
lately been cut on the banks of the Genesee river, of such 
enormous size, that a section of the trunk was hollowed 
out and furnished as a small room, capable of containing 



ISO LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

fourteen persons.* On the margins of the great western 
rivers it sometimes rises up seventy feet, and then expands 
into a fine, lofty head, surpassing in grandeur all its 
neighbors of the forest. The large branches of the plane 
shoot out in a horizontal direction ; the trunk generally 
ascending in a regular, stately, and uninterrupted manner 
The blossoms are small greenish balls appearing in spring, 
and the fertile ones grow to an inch in diameter, assuming 
a deep brownish color, and hang upon the tree during the 
whole winter. A striking and peculiar characteristic of 
the plane, is its property of throwing off or shedding 
continually the other coating of bark here and there in 
patches. Professor Lindley {Introduction to the Natural 
Sijstem, 2d ed. 187) says this is owing to its deficiency 
in the expansive power of the fibre common to the bark 
of other trees, or, in other words, to the rigidity of its 
tissue : being therefore incapable of stretching witii the 
growth of the tree, it bursts open on different parts of the 
trunk, and is cast off. This gives the trunk quite a lively 
and picturesque look, extending more or less even to the 
extremity of the branches ; and makes this tree quite 
conspicuous in winter. Bryant, in his address to Green 
River, says : 

" Clear are the depths where its eddies play. 
And dimples deepen and whirl away. 
And the plane tree's speckled arms o'ershoot 
The swifter current that mines its root." 

The great merit of the plane, or buttonwood, is its 

* A buttonwood on the Montezuma estate, Jefferson, Cayuga Co., N. Y., 
is forty-seven and a half feet in circumference ; and the diameter of the 
hollow two feet from the ground, is fifteen feet. {N. Y. Med. liepoaitory, 
IV. 427.; 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 137 

extreme vigor and luxuriance of growth. In a good soil il 
will readily reach a height of thirty-five or forty feet in ten 
years. It is easily transplanted ; and in new residences, 
bare of trees, where an effect is desired speedily, we know 
of nothing better adapted quickly to produce abundance 
of foliage, shelter, and shade. When the requisite foliage 
is obtained, and other trees of slower growth have reached 
a proper size, the former may be thinned out. As the 
plane tree grows to the largest size, it is only proper for 
situations where there is considerable ground, and where 
it can without inconvenience to its fellows have ample 
room for its full development. Then soaring up, and 
extending its wide-spread branches on every side, it is 
certainly a very majestic tree. The color of the foliage 
is of a paler green than is usual in forest trees ; and 
although of large size, is easily wafted to and fro by the 
wind, thereby producing an agreeable diversity of light 
pleasing to the eye in summer. In winter the branches 
are beautifully hung, even to their furthest ends, with the 
numerous round russet-balls, or seed-vessels, each sus- 
pended by a slender cord, and swinging about in the air. 
The outline of the head is pleasingly irregular, and its 
foliage against a sky outline is bold and picturesque. It 
is not a tree to be planted in thick groves by itself, but 
to stand alone and detached, or in a group with two or 
three. In avenues it is often happily employed, and 
produces a grand effect. It also grows with great vigor 
in close cities, as some superb specimens in the square 
of the State-house, Pennsylvania Hospital, and other 
places in Philadelphia fully attest. 

There is but a trifling difference in general effect between 



138 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

our plane or buttonwood and the Oriental plane. Fur tiie 
purposes of shade and shelter, the American is the finest, 
as its foliage is the longest and broadest. The Oriental 
plane {Platanus orientalis) has the leaves lobed like our 
native kind {P. occidentalis), but the segments are much 
more deeply cut ; the footstalks of its leaves are green, 
while those of the American are of a reddish hue, and the 
fruit or ball is much smaller and rougher on the outer sur- 
face when fully grown. Both species are common in the 
nurseries, and are worthy the attention of the planter ; the 
Oriental, as well for the interesting associations connected 
with it, being the favorite shade-tree of the east, etc., as for 
its intrinsic merits as a lofty and majestic tree. 

Two of the varieties of P. occidentalis are sometimes cul- 
tivated, the chief of which is the Maple-leaved plane {P. O. 
acerifolia). 



The Ash Tree. Fraxinus. 

Nat. Ord. Oleaceae. Lin. Syst. Polygamia, Dioecia. 

The name of the ash, one of the finest and most useful 
of forest trees, is probably derived from the Celtic asc, 
a pike — as its wood was formerly in common use for 
spears and other weapons. Homer informs us that Achilles 
was slain with an ashen spear. In modern times the wood 
is in universal use for the various implements of husbandry, 
for the diflferent purposes of the wheelwright and carriage- 
maker, and in short for all purposes where great strength 
and elasticity are required ; for in these qualities the ash is 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 139 

gecond to no tree in the forest, the hickory alone excepted. 
The ash is a large and lofty tree, growing, when surrounded 
by other trees, sixty or seventy feet high, and three or more 
m diameter. When exposed on all sides it forms a beau- 
tiful, round, compact head of loose, pinnated, light green 
foliage, and is one of the most vigorous growers among the 
hard-wooded trees. The American species of ash are 
found in the greatest luxuriance and beauty on the banks 
and margins of rivers where the soil is partially dry, yet 
where the roots can easily penetrate down to the moisture. 
The European ash is remarkable for its hardy nature, being 
often found in great vigor on steep rocky hills, and amid 
crevices where most other trees flourish badly. Southey 
alludes to this in the following lines : — 

" Grey as the stone to which it clung, half root, 
Half trunk, the young ash rises from the rock." 

As the ash grows strongly, and the roots, which extend 
to a great distance, ramify near the surface, it exhausts the 
soil underneath and around it to an astonishing degree. 
For this reason the grass is generally seen in a very meagre 
and starved condition in a lawn where the ash tree abounds. 
Here and there a single tree of the ash will have an excel- 
lent effect, seen from the windows of the house ; but we 
would chiefly employ it for the grand masses, and to inter- 
mingle with other large groups of trees in an extensive 
plantation. When the ash is young it forms a well rounded 
head ; but when older the lower branches bend towards 
the ground, and then slightly turn up in a very graceful 
manner. We take pleasure in quoting what that great 
lover and accurate delineator of forest beauties, Mr. Gilpin, 
lays of the ash. " The ash generally carries its principal 



140 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

stem higher than the oak, and rises in an easy flowing line. 
But its chief beauty consists in the lightness of its whole 
appearance. Its branches at first keep close to the trunk 
and form acute angles with it ; but as they begin to lengthen 
they generally take an easy sweep, and the looseness of the 
leaves corresponding with the lightness of the spray, the 
whole forms an elegant depending foliage. Nothing can 
have a better effect than an old ash hanging from the cornei 
of a wood, and bringing off the heaviness of the othei 
foliage with its loose pendent branches." — {Forest Scenery, 
p. 82.) 

The highest and most characteristic beauty of the Ame 
rican White ash (and we consider it the finest of all the 
species) is the coloring which its leaves put on in autumn. 
Gilpin complains that the leaf of the European ash " decays 
in a dark, muddy, unpleasing tint." Not so the White ash. 
In an American wood, such as often lines and overhangs 
the banks of the Hudson, the Connecticut, and many of 
our noble northern streams, the ash assumes peculiar beauty 
in autumn, when it can often be distinguished from the 
surrounding trees for four or five miles, by the pecuhar and 
beautiful deep brownish purple of its fine mass of foliage. 
This color, though not lively, is so full and rich as to pro- 
duce the most pleasing harmony with the bright yellows 
and reds of the other deciduous trees, and the deep green 
of the pines and cedars. 

The ash, unlike the elm, starts into vegetation late in tlie 
spring, which is an objection to planting it in the immediate 
vicinity of the house. In winter the long greyish white or 
ash-colored branches are pleasing in tint, compared witii 
those of other deciduous trees. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 141 

The White ash. {Fraxinus Americana ) This species, 
according to Michaux, is common to the colder parts of the 
Union, and is most abundant north of the Hudson. It 
owes its name to the light color of the bark, which on large 
Slocks is deeply furrowed, and divided into squares of one 
to three inches in diameter. The trunk is perfectly straight, 
and in close woods is often undivided to the height of more 
than 40 feet. The leaves are composed of three or four 
pairs of leaflets, terminated by an odd one ; the whole 
twelve or fourteen inches long. Early in spring they are 
covered with a light down which disappears as summer 
advances, when they become quite smooth, of a light green 
color above and whitish beneath. The foliage, as well as 
the timber of our White ash, is finer than that of the com- 
mon European ash, and the tree is much prized in France 
and Germany. 

The Black ash {F. sambucifolia), sometimes called the 
Water ash, requires a moist soil to thrive well, and is seen 
n the greatest perfection on the borders of swamps. Its 
buds are of a deep blue ; the young shoots of a bright green, 
sprinkled wath dots of the same color, which disappear as 
the season advances. It may readily be distinguished from 
the White ash by its bark, which is of a duller hue and less 
deeply furrowed. The Black ash is altogether a tree of 
less stature than the preceding. 

The other native sorts are the Red ash {F. iomentosa), 
with the bark of a deep brown tint, found in Pennsylvania : 
the Green ash {F. viridis), which also grows in Pennsyl- 
vania, and is remarkable for the brilliant green of both sides 
of the leaves : the Blue ash {F. Quadrangulata), a beauti- 
ful tree of Kentucky, 70 feet high, distinguished by the four 
opposite membranes of a greenish color, found on the young 



142 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



shoots : and the Carolina ash (F. platycarpa), a small tree 
the leaves of which are covered with a thick down in 
spring. 

The common European ash {F. excelsior) strongly re- 
sembles the White ash. It may, however, easily be known 
by its very black buds, and longer, more serrated leaflets 
which are sessile, instead of being furnished with petioles 
like the White ash. This fine tree, as well as the White 
ash, grows to 80 or 90 feet in height, with a very handsome 
head. 

The Weeping ash, Fig. 31, is a very remarkable variety 




[Fig. 81. The Weeping Ash.] 



of the European ash, with pendulous or weeping branches ; 
and is worthy a place in every lawn for its curious ramifi- 
cation, as well as for its general beauty. It is generally 
propagated by grafting on any common stock, as the White 
ash, 7 or 8 feet high, when the branches immediately begin 
to turn down in a very striking and peculiar manner. The 
droop of the branches is hardly a graceful one, yet it is sc 





.^fA.i' ^ '»V 




Pj(j_ 32 — Tlie L.UI10PBAN Linden, at ricsqu- 



riesqu-ilo, ll.e llesulcncc of Mr*. Dcunm!: 
Age, 44 years. Height, 5T feet. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 143 

unique, either when leafless, or in full foliage, that it has 
long been one of our greatest favorites. 

The Flowering ash (Fraxinus Ornus*) is a small tree of 
about 20 feet, growing plentifully in the south of Europe, 
and is also found sparingly in this country. Its chief beauty 
lies in the beautiful clusters of pale or greenish- white flow- 
ers, borne on the terminal branches in May and June. The 
foliage and general appearance of the tree are much like 
those of the common ash ; but when in blossom it resembles 
a good deal the Carolina Fringe tree. In Italy a gummy 
substance called manna exudes from the bark, which is 
used in medicine. 



The Lime or Linden Tree. Tilia. 

Nat. Orih Tilacese. Lin. Syst. Polyandria, Monogynia. 

This tree, or rather the American sort, is well known 
among us by the name of hasswood. It is a rapidly grow- 
ing, handsome, upright, and regularly shaped tree ; and all 
the species are much esteemed, both in Europe and this 
country, for planting in avenues and straight lines, wherever 
the taste is in favor of geometric plantations. In Germany 
and Holland it is a great favorite for bordering their wide 
and handsome streets, and lining their long and straight 
canals. " In Berlin," Granville says in his travels, " there 
is a celebrated street called ' unter der Linden,' (under the 
lime trees,) a gay and splendid avenue, planted with double 

* Ornus EuropcBUS of Persoon, and the European botanists. Beck remarks 
that the American kind is so little known, that it is difficult to determine 
whether it is a different species or only a mere variety of the European. 



144 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

rows of this tree, which presented to my view a scene far 
more beautiful than I had hitherto witnessed in any town, 
either in France, Flanders, or Germany." In this country 
the European lime is also much planted in our cities ; and 
some avenues of it may be seen in Philadelphia, particu- 
larly before the State-house in Chestnut-street. The bass- 
wood is a very abundant tree in some parts of the middle 
states, and is seen growing in great profusion, forming thick 
woods by itself in the interior of this state. With us the 
wood is considered too soft to be of much value, but in 
England it was formerly in high repute as an excellent 
material for the use of carvers. Some very beautiful 
specimens of old carving in lime wood may be seen in 
Windsor Castle and Trinity College.* The Russian bass 
mats, which find their way to every commercial country, 
are prepared from the inner bark of this tree. The sap 
affords a sugar like the maple, although in less quantities ; 
and it is stated in the Encyclopaedia of Plants (p. 467) " that 
the honey made from the flowers of the lime tree is reckoned 
the finest in the world. Near Knowno, in Lithuania, there 
are large forests chiefly of this tree, and probably a distinct 
variety. The honey produced in these forests sells at more 
than double the price of any other, and is used extensively 
in medicine and for liqueurs." 

* The art of carving in wood, brought to such perfection by Gibbons, is now, 
we believe, much given up ; therefore the lime has lost a most important branch 
of its usefulness. Perhaps the finest specimens of the works of Gibbons are to 
be seen at Chatsworth, the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, in Derbyshire. The 
execution of the flowers, fish, game, nets, etc., on the panelling of the walls is 
quite wonderful. It was of him that Walpole justly said, ' that he was the first 
artist who gave to wood the loose and airy lightness of flowers, and chained 
together the various productions of the elements, with a free disorder natural to 
each species.' The lime tree is still, however, used by the carver, and we ho{)0 
that the art of wood carving may gradually be restored." — Sir T. D. Lauder 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 145 

The leaves of the Hme are large and handsome, heart- 
shaped in form, and pleasing in color. The flowers, which 
open in June, hang in loose, pale yellow cymes or clusters, 
are quite ornamental and very fragrant. 

Sometimes 

A scent of violets and blossoming limes 
Loitered around us ; then of honey cells, 
Made delicate from all white flower bells. 

Keats. 

It was a favorite tree in the ancient style of gardening, 
as it bore the shears well, and was readily dipt into all 
manner of curious and fantastic shapes. When planted 
singly on a lawn, and allowed to develope itself fully on 
every side, the linden is one of the most beautiful of trees. 
Its head then forms a fine pyramid of verdure, while its 
lower branches sweep the ground and curve upwards in the 
most pleasing form. For this reason, though the linden is 
not a picturesque tree, it is very happily adapted for the 
graceful landscape, as its whole contour is full, flowing, and 
agreeable. The pleasant odor of its flowers is an addi- 
tional recommendation, as well as it^ free growth and 
handsome leaves. Were it not that of late it is so liable to 
insects, we could hardly say too much in its praise as a fine 
ornament for streets and public parks. There, its regular 
form corresponds well with the formality of the architecture ; 
its shade affords cool and pleasant walks, and the delightful 
odor of its blossoms is doubly grateful in the confined air 
of the city. Our basswood has rather less of uniformity in 
its outline than the European lindens, but the general form 
is the same. 

The American lime, or basswood {Tilia Americana), is 

the most robust tree of the genus, and produces much 

10 



14G LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

more vigorous shoots than the European species. It 
prefers a deep and fertile soil, where the trunk grows 
remarkably straight, and the branches form a handsome, 
well-rounded summit. The flowers are borne on long 
stalks, and are pendulous from the branches. The leaves 
are large, heart-shaped, finely cut on the margin, and 
terminated by a point at the extremity. The seeds, 
which ripen in autumn, are like small peas, round and 
greyish. 

The white lime (T. alba) is rare in the eastern states, 
but common in Pennsylvania and the states south of it. 
It is not a tree of the largest size, but its flowers are the 
finest of our native sorts. The leaves are also very large, 
deep green on the upper surface, and white below ; they 
are more obliquely heart-shaped than those of the common 
basswood. The young branches are covered with a 
smooth silvery bark. This species is very common on 
the Susquehannah river. 

The l^owny lime tree. (T. pubescens.) The under 
side of the leaves, and the fruits of this species, are, as its 
name denotes, co\«ered with a short down. Its flowers 
are nearly white ; the serratures of the leaves wider 
apart, and the base of the leaf obliquely truncated. It is 
a handsome large tree, a native of Florida, though hardy 
enough, as experience proves, to bear oar northern 
winters. 

The European lime (T*. Europcca) is distinguished 
from the American sorts, by its smaller and more 
regularly cordate and rounded leaves. Unlike our 
native species, the flowers are not furnished with inner 
scale-like petals. The foliage is rather deeper in hue 
than the native sorts, and the branches of the head rathe) 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 14*7 

more regular in form and disposition. There are two 
pretty varieties of the EngHsh hme which are well known 
in this country, viz. the Red-barked, or corallina (var. 
ruhra), with red branches ; and the Golden-barked {var. 
nurea), with handsome yellow branches. These trees 
are peculiarly beautiful in winter, when a few of them 
mingled with other deciduous trees make a pleasing 
variety of coloring in the absence of foliage. The broad- 
leaved European lim© is the finest for shade and 
ornament. The whitish foliage of Tilia alba, which 
probably is also a variety, has a beautiful appearance, 
somewhat like the Abele tree, in a gentle breeze. 

These trees grow well on any good friable soil, and 
readily endure transplantation. They bear trimming 
remarkably well ; and when but little root is obtained the 
head may be shortened in proportion, and the tree will 
soon make vigorous shoots again. All the species are 
easily increased by layers. 



The Beech Tree. Fagus. 
Nat. Ord. Corylaceae. Lin. Syst. Monoecia, Polyandria. 

The Beech is a large, compact, and lofty tree, with a 
greyish bark and finely divided spray, and is a' common 
inhabitant of the forest in all temperate climates. In the 
United States, this tree is generally found congregated in 
very great quantities, wherever the soil is most favorable ; 
hundreds of acres being; sometimes covered with this 
single kind of timber. Such tracts are familiarly known 



148 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

as "beech woods." The leaves of the beeca are 
remarkably thin in texture, glazed and shining on the 
upper surface, and so thickly set upon the numerous 
branches, that it forms the darkest and densest shade of 
any of our deciduous forest trees. It appears to have 
been highly valued by the ancients as a shade tree ; and 
Virgil says in its praise, in a well-known Eclogue : 

" Tityre, tu patulie recubans sub tegmine fngi, 
Sylvestrem tenui musam meuitaiis avena." 

It bears a small compressed nut or mast, oily and sweet, 
which once was much valued as an article of food. The 
most useful purpose to which we have heard of their being 
applied, is in the manufacture of an oil, scarcely inferior 
to olive oil. This is produced from the mast of the beech 
forests in the department of Oise, France, in immense 
quantities ; more than a million of sacks of the nuts 
having been collected in that department in a single 
season. They are reduced, when perfectly ripe, to a fine 
paste, and the oil is extracted by gradual pressure. The 
product of oil, compared with the crushed nuts, is about 
sixteen per cent. (Michaux, N. American Sylva.) 

In Europe, the wood of the beech is much used in the 
manufacture of various utensils ; but here, where our 
forests abound in woods vastly superior in strength, 
durability, and firmness, that of the beech is comparatively* 
little esteemed. 

The beech is quite handsome and graceful when young, 
and when large it forms one of the heaviest and grandest 
of beautiful park trees. From this massy quality, how- 
ever, it is excellently adapted to mingle with other trees 
when a thick anc impenetrable mass of foliage is desired : 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 149 

and, on account of its density, it is also well suited to shut 
out unsightly buildings, or other objects. 

The leaves of many beech trees hang on the tree, in a 
dry and withered state, during the whole winter. This is 
chiefly the case with young trees ; but we consider it as 
greatly diminishing its beauty at that season, as the tree is 
otherwise very pleasing to the eye, with its smooth, round, 
grey stem, and small twisted spray. A deciduous tree, we 
think, should as certainly drop its leaves at the approach 
of cold weather, as an evergreen should retain them ; more 
especially if its leaves have a dead and withered appearance, 
as is the case with those of the beech in this climate. 

The White beech {Fagus Sylvatica) is the common 
beech tree of the middle and western states. It is found in 
the greatest perfection in a cool situation and a moist soil. 
The bark is smooth and grey, even upon the oldest stocks. 
The leaves oval, smooth, and shining, coarsely cut on the 
edges, and margined with a soft down in the spring. 

The Red beech (F. fen^uginea), so called on account of 
the color ©f its wood, loves a still colder climate than the 
other, and is found in the greatest perfection in British 
America. The leaves are divided into coarser teeth on 
the margin than the foregoing species. The nuts are much 
smaller, and the whole tree forms a lower and more- spread- 
ing head. 

The European beech {F. sylvatica) is thought by many 
botanists to be the same species as our white beech, or at 
most only a variety. Its average height in Europe is 
about fifty feet ; the buds are shorter, and the leaves not so 
coarsely toothed as our native sorts. The Purple beech is 
a. very ornamental variety of the European beech, common 



150 1,ANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

in he gardens. Both surfaces of the leaves, and even the 
yo'ing shoots, are deep purple ; and although the growth is 
slow, yet it is in every stage of its progress, and more par 
ticularly when it reaches a good size, one of the strangest 
anomalies among trees, in the hue of its foliage. There is 
also a variety called the copper-colored beech, with paler 
purple leaves ;* and a more rare English variety [F. s. j^en- 
dula), the Weeping beech, with graceful pendent branches 

The Hornbeam {Carpinus Ajnericana), and the Iron- 
wood {Ostrya Virginicd), are both well known small trees, 
belonging to the same natural family as the beech. They 
are of little value in ornamental plantations ; but from their 
thick foliage, they might perhaps be employed to advantage 
in makinsr thick verdant screens for shelter or concealment. 



The Poplar Tree. Populus. 
Nat. Ord. 6aiicaceEe. Lin. Syst. Dicecia, Octandria. 

Arbor Populi, or the people's tree, was the name given 
in the ancient days of Rome to this tree, as being peculiarly 
appropriated to those public places most frequented by the 
people ; some ingenious authors have still further justified 
the propriety of the name, by adding, that its trembling 
leaves are like the populace, always in motion. 

The poplars are light- wooded, rapid-growing trees ; many 

* The finest Copper Beech in America is growing in the grounds of Thomas 
Ash, Esq., Throgs Neck, Westchester Co., N. Y. It is more than fifty feol 
tigli, with a broad and finely formed head. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. liJl 

of them of huge size, and all with pointed, heart-shaped 
leaves. The tassel-like catkins, or male blossoms, of a red 
or brownish hue, appear early in the spring. Some of the 
American kinds, as the Balsam and Balm of Gilead poplars, 
have their buds enveloped in a fragrant gum ; others, as 
the Silver poplar, or Abele, are remarkable for the snowy 
whiteness of the under side of the foliage ; and the Lom 
bardy poplar, which 

" Shoots up its spire, and shakes its leaves in the sun," 

Proctor. 

for its remarkably conical or spire-like manner of growth. 
The leaves of all the species, being suspended upon long 
and slender footstalks, are easily put in motion by the wind. 
This, however, is peculiarly the case with the aspen, the 
leaves- of which may often be seen trembling in the slightest 
breeze, when the foliage of the surrounding trees is motion- 
less. There is a popular legend in Scotland respecting 
this tree, which runs thus : 

" Far ofl in the Highland wilds 'tis said 
(But truth now laughs at fancy's lore). 

That of this tree the cross was made, 
Which erst the Lord of Glory bore ; 

And of that deed its leaves confess. 
E'er since, a troubled consciousness." 

In Landscape Gardening the poplar is not highly esteemed ; 
but it is a valuable tree when judiciously employed, and 
produces a given quantity of foliage and shade sooner 
perhaps than any other. Some of the American kinds are 
majestic and superb trees when old, particularly the Cotton- 
wood and Balsam poplars. One of the handsomest sorts 
is the Silver poplar. At some distance, the downy under 
surfaces of the leaves, tr.rned up by the wind, give it very 



152 LANDSCAPE GAUDENIKG. 

much the aspect of a tree covered with white blossoms. 
This eifect is the more striking, when it is situated in front 
of a group or mass of the dai'ker foHage of other trees. 
It is vahiable for retaining its leaves in full beauty to the 
latest possible period in the autumn. Its growth is very 
rapid, forming a tine rounded head of thirty feet in 
height, in six or eight years. 

The Lombardy poplar is a beautiful tree, and in certain 
situations produces a very elegant effect ; but it has been 
planted so indiscriminately, in some parts of this country, 
in close monotonous lines before the very doors of oui 
houses, and in many places in straight rows along the high 
ways for miles together, to the neglect of our fine native 
trees, that it has been tiresome and disgusting. This tree 
may, however, be employed with singular advantage in 
giving life, spirit, and variety to a scene composed entirely 
of round-headed trees, as the oak, ash, etc., — when a tall 
poplar, emerging here and there from the back or centre 
of the group, often imparts an air of elegance and animation 
lo the whole. It may, also, from its marked and striking 
contrast to other trees, be employed to fix or direct the 
attention to some particular point in the landscape. When 
large poplars of this kind are growing near a house of but 
moderate dimensions, they have a very bad effect by com- 
pletely overpowering the building, without imparting any 
of that grandeur of character conferred by an old oak, or 
other spreading tree. It should be introduced but sparingly 
in landscape composition, as the moment it is made com- 
mon in any scene, it gives an air of sameness and formality, 
ana all the spirited effect is lost which its sparing introduc- 
tion among other trees produces. The Lombardy poplar 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. ] 53 

IS SO well adapted to confined situations, as its brandies 
require less lateral room than those of almost any other 
large deciduous tree. 

It is an objection to some of the poplars, that in any 
cultivated soil they produce an abundance of suckers 
For this reason they should be planted only in grass ground, 
or in situations where the soil will not be disturbed, or 
where the suckers will not be injurious. Indeed, we con- 
ceive them to be chieily wortiiy of introduction in grounds 
of large extent, to give variety to plantations of other and 
more valuable trees. They grow well in almost every soil, 
moist or dry, and some species prefer quite wet and springy 
places. 

The chief American poplars are the Tachamahaca or 
Balsam poplar (Populus halsamifera), chiefly found in 
Northern America ; a large tree, SO feet high, with fragrant 
gummy buds and lanceolate-oval leaves ; the Balm of 
Gilead poplar (P. candicans), resembling the foregoing in 
its buds, but with very large, broad, heart-shaped foliage. 
From these a gum is sometimes collected, and used medi- 
cinally for the cure of scurvy. The American aspen {P. 
tremuloides) , about 30 feet high, a common tree with very 
tremulous leaves and greenish bark ; the large American 
aspen {P. grandidentata), 40 feet high, with large leaves 
bordered with coarse teeth or denticulations ; the Cotton 
tree {P. argentea), 60 or 70 feet, with leaves downy in a 
young state ; the American Black poplar of smaller size, 
having the young shoots covered with short hair ; the 
Cottonwood {P. Canadensis), found chiefly in the western 
part of this state, a fine tree, with smooth, unequally-toothed, 
wide cordate leaves ; and the Carolina poplar (P. angulata). 



154 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

an enormous tree of the swamps of the south and west; 
considerably resembling the Cotton tree, but without the 
resinous buds of that species. 

Among the European kinds, the most ornamental, as we 
have already remarked, is the Silver aspen, White poplar, or 
Abele tree (P. alba), which grows to a great size on a deep 
loamy soil in a very short time. The leaves are divided 
into lobes, and toothed on the margin, smooth and very 
deep green above, and densely covered with a soft, close, 
white down beneath. There are some varieties of this 
species known abroad, with leaves more or less downy, etc. 
Sir J. E. Smith remarks in his English Flora, that the wood, 
though but little used, is much firmer than that of any other 
British poplar ; making as handsome floors as the best 
Norway fir, with the additional advantage that they will 
not readily take fire, like any resinous wood. 

The English aspen (P. tremula) considerably resembles 
our native aspen ; but the buds are somewhat gummy. 
The Athenian poplar (P. GrcBca) is a tree about 40 feet 
high, with smaller, more rounded, and equally serrated 
foliage. The common Black European poplar (P. nigra) 
is also a large, rapidly growing tree, with pale-green leaves 
slightly notched: the buds expand later than most other 
poplars, and the young leaves are at first somewhat reddish 
in color. The Necklace-bearing poplar (P. monilifera), sc 
called from the circumstance of the catkins being arranged 
somewhat like beads in a necklace, is supposed to have 
been derived from Canada, but there are some doubts 
respecting its origin : in the south it is generally called the 
Virginia poplar. 

The Lombardy poplar (P. dilatata), a native of the banks 
of the Po, where it is sometimes called the Cypress poplar 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAIi TREES. 155 

from its resembance to that tree, is too well known among 
us to need any description. Only one sex, the female, has 
hitherto been introduced into this country ; and it has con- 
sequently produced no seeds here, but has been entireh' 
propagated by suckers from the root. 



The Horse-chestnut Tree. jEscuIus. 
Nat. Old. -iEsculacese. Lin. Sijst. Heptandria, Monogynia. 

A large, showy, much admired, ornamental tree, bearing 
large leaves composed of seven leaflets, and, in the month 
of May, beautiful clusters of white flowers, delicately mot- 
tled with red and yellow. It is a native of Middle Asia, 
but flourishes well in the temperate climates of both hemi- 
spheres. It was introduced into England, probably from 
Turkey, about the year 1575 : in that country the nuts are 
often ground into a coarse flour, which is mixed with other 
food and given to horses that are broken- winded ; and from 
this use the Eno-lish name of the tree was derived. 

A starch has been extracted in considerable quantity 
from the nuts. The wood is considered valueless in the 
United States. 

The Horse-chestnut is by no means a picturesque tree, 
being too regularly rounded in its outlines, and too compact 
and close in its surface, to produce a spirited effect in light 
and shade. But it is nevertheless one of the most beautiful 
exotic trees which will bear the open air in this climate. 
The leaves, each made of clusters of six or seven leaflets, 
are of a fine dark-green color ; the whole head of foliage 



150 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

has much grandeur and richness in its depth of hue and 
massiness of outHne ; and the regular, rounded, pyramidal 
shape, is something so different from that of most of our 
indigenous trees, as to strike the spectator with an air of 
novelty and distinctness. The great beauty of the Horse- 
chestnut is the splendor of its inflorescence, surpassing that 
of almost all our native forest trees : the huge clusters of 
gay blossoms, which every spring are distributed with such 
luxuriance and profusion over the surface of the foliage, 
and at the extremity of the branches, give the whole tree 
the aspect rather of some monstrous flowering shrub, than 
of an ordinary tree of the largest size. At that season there 
can be no more beautiful object to stand singly upon the 
lawn, particularly if its branches are permitted to grow low 
down the trunk, and (as they naturally will as the tree ad- 
vances) sweep the green sward with their drooping foliage. 
Like the lime tree, however, care must be taken, in the 
modern style, to introduce it rather sparingly in picturesque 
plantations, and then only as a single tree, or upon the 
margin of large groups, masses, or plantations ; but it may 
be more freely used in grounds in the graceful style, for 
which it is highly suitable. When handsome avenues or 
straio-ht lines are wanted, the Horse-chestnut is again ad- 
mirably suited, from its symmetry and regularity. It is, 
therefore, much and justly valued for these purposes in our 
towns and cities, where its deep shade and beauty of blos- 
som are peculiarly desirable, the only objection to it being 
the early fall of its leaves. The Horse-chestnut is very 
interesting in its mode of growth. The large buds are 
thickly covered in winter with a resinous gum, to protect 
them from the cold and moisture ; in the spring these burst 
oj)en, and the whole growth of the young shoots, leaves, 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 157 

flowers, and all., is completed in about three or four weeks 
When the leaves first unfold, they are clothed with a 
copious cotton-like down, which falls off when they have 
attained their full size and development. 

The growth of the Horse-chestnut is slow for a soft- 
wooded tree, when the trees are young ; after five or six 
years, however, it advances with more rapidity, and in 
twenty years forms a beautiful and massy tree. It prefers 
a strong, rich, loamy soil, and is easily raised from the large 
nuts, which are produced in great abundance. 

There are several species of Horse-chestnut, but the 
common one (JEscidus Hippocastanum) is incomparably 
the finest. The American sorts are the following : (^s- 
culus Ohioensls,) or Ohio Buckeye, as it is called in the 
western states ; a small sized tree, with palmated leaves 
consisting of Jive leaflets, and pretty, bright yellow flowers, 
with red stamens. The fruit is about half the size of the 
exotic species. The Red-flowered Horse-chestnut (j^scu- 
lus 7nLbicunda) is a small tree with scarlet flowers ; and the 
Smooth-leaved (^. glabra) has pale yellow flowers. All 
the foregoing have prickly fruit. Besides these are two 
small Horse-chestnuts with smooth fruit, which thence 
properly belong to the genus Pavia, viz. the Yellow-flow- 
ered Pavia (P. lutea) of Virginia and the southern states ; 
and the Red-flowered {P. Tuhra), with pretty clusters of 
reddish flowers ; both these have leaves resembling those 
of the Horse-chestnut, except in being divided into five 
leaflets, instead of seven. There are some other species, 
which are, however, rather shrubs than trees. 



158 LANDSCAPE GAEDENING. 

The Birch Tree. Betula. 
Nat. Ord. Betulacere. Lin. Syst. MoncEcia, Polyandria. 

The Birch trees are common inhabitants of the forests 
of all cold and elevated countries. They are remarkable 
for their smooth, silvery-white, or reddish colored stems, 
delicate and pliant spray, and small, light foliage. There 
is no deciduous tree which will endure a more rigorous 
climate, or grow at a greater elevation above the level ot 
the sea. It is found growing in Gi'eenland and Kams- 
chatka, as far north as the 58th and 60th degree of 
latitude, and on the Alps in Switzerland, according to 
that learned botanist, M. DeCandolle, at the elevation of 
4,400 feet. It is undoubtedly the most useful tree of 
northern climates. Not only are cattle and sheep 
sometimes fed upon the leaves, but the Laplander 
constructs his hut of the branches ; the Russian forms 
the bark into shoes, baskets, and cordage for harnessing 
his reindeer ; and the inhabitants of Northern Siberia, in 
times of scarcity, grind it to mix with their oatmeal for 
food. In this country the birch is no less useful. The 
North American Indian, and all who are obliged to travel 
the wild, unfrequented portions of British America, — 
who have to pass over rapids, and make their way 
through the wilderness from river to river, — find the 
canoe made of the birch bark, the lightest, the most 
durable, and convenient vessel, for these purposes, in the 
world.* 

* The following interesting description of their manufacture, we quote from 
Michaux. " The most important purpose to which the Canoe birch is applied^ 
and one in which its olace is supplied by no other tree, is the construction of 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. l')0 

The wood of our Black birch is by far the finest ; and, 
as it assumes a beautiful rosy color when polished, and is 
next in texture to the wild Cherry tree, it is considerably 
esteemed among cabinet-makers in the eastern states, for 
chairs, tables, and bedsteads. 

In Europe, the sap of the birch is collected in the 
spring, in the same manner as that of the maple in this 
country, boiled with sugar and hops, and fermented with 
the aid of yeast. The product of the fermentation is 
called birc/i loine, and is described as being a remarkably 
pleasant and healthy beverage. 

Though perhaps too common in some districts of our 
country to be properly regarded as an ornamental tree, 
yet in others where it is less so, the birch will doubtless 
be esteemed as it deserves. With us it is a great favorite ; 
and we regard it as a very elegant and graceful tree, not 
less on account of the silvery white bark of several 
species, than from the extreme delicacy of the spray, and 
the pleasing lightness and airiness of the foliage. In all 
the species, the branches have a tendency to for;Ti those 
graceful curves which contribute so much to the beauty 



canoes. To procure proper pieces, the largest and smoothest trunks are 
selected ; in the spring, two circular incisions are made several feet apart, and 
two longitudinal ones, on opposite sides of the tree : after which, by intro- 
ducing a wedge, the bark is easily detached. These plates are usually ten or 
twelve feet long, and two feet nine inches broad. To form canoes, they are 
stitched together with fibrous roots of the white spruce, about the size of a 
quill, which are deprived of the bark, split, and suppled in water. The seams 
are coated with resin of the Balm of Gilead. Great use is made of these 
canoes by the savages, and the French Canadians, in their long journeys through 
the interior of the country : they are light, and very easily transported on the 
siioulders from one lake to ano'ther, which is called the portage. A canoa 
calculated for four persons, with their baggage, weighs from forty to fifty 
pounds ; and some of them are made to carry fifteen passengers." 



IGO LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

of trees ; but the European weeping birch is pecuh'arly 
pleasing as it grows old, on that account. It is this variety 
which Coleridge pronounces, 

" Most beautiful 



Of forest trees — the Lady of the woods." 

And Bernard Barton, speaking of our native species, says, 

-" See the beautiful Birch tree fling 



Its shade on the grass beneath- 

Its glossy leaf, and its silvery stem ; 

Dost thou not love to look on them V 

The American sorts, and particularly the Black birch, 
start into leaf very early in the spring, and their tender 
green is agreeable to the eye at that season ; while the 
swelling buds and young foliage in many kinds, give out a 
delicious, though faint perfume. Even the blossoms, which 
hang like little brown tassels from the drooping branches, 
are interesting to the lover of nature. 

" The fragrant birch above him hung 
Her tassels in the sky. 
And many a vernal blossom sprung, 
And nodded careless by." 

Bkyant. 

Nothing can well be prettier, seen from the windows of 
the drawing-room, than a large group of trees, whose depth 
and distance is made up by the heavy and deep masses of 
the ash, oak, and maple ; and the portions nearest the eye or 
the lawn terminated by a few birches, with their sparkling 
white stems, and delicate, airy, drooping foliage. Our White 
birch, being a small tree, is very handsome in such situa- 
tions, and offers the most pleasing variety to the eye, when 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. ]61 

seeii In connexion with other foHage. Several kinds, a3 
the Yellow and the Black birches, are really stately trees, 
and form fine groups by themselves. Indeed, most beauti- 
ful and varied masses might be formed by collecting 
together all the different kinds, with their characteristic 
barks, branches, and foliage. • 

As an additional recommendation, many of these trees 
grow on the thinnest and most indifferent soils, whether 
moist or dry ; and in cold, bleak, and exposed situations, 
as well as in warm and sheltered places. 

We shall enumerate the different kinds as follows : — 

The Canoe birch, Boleau a Canot, of the French Cana- 
dians [B.papy raced), sometimes also called the Paper birch, 
is, according toMichaux, most common in the forests of the 
eastern states, north of latitude 43°, and in the Canadas 
There it attains its largest size, sometimes seventy feet in 
height, and three in diameter.* Its branches are slender, 
flexible, covered with a shining brown bark, dotted with 
white ; and on trees of moderate size, the bark of the trunk 
is of a brilliant white ; it is often used for roofing houses, 
for the manufacture of baskets, boxes, etc., besides its most 
important use for canoes, as already mentioned. The leaves, 
borne on petioles four or five lines long, are of a middling 
size, oval, unequally denticulated, smooth, and of a dark 
green color. 

The White birch {B. populifolia) is a tree of much 
smaller size, generally from twenty to thirty-five feet in 
height : it is found in New York and the other middle 
state's, as well as at the north. The trunk, like the fore- 
going, is covered with silvery bark : the branches are 
slender, and generally drooping when the tree attains con 

siderable size. The leaves are smooth on both surficeS; 

11 



102 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

heart-shaped at the base, very acuminate, and doubly and 
irregularly toothed. The petioles are slightly twisted, and 
the leaves are almost as tremulous as those of the aspen. 
It is a beautiful small tree for ornamental plantations. 

The common Black or Sweet birch. (B. lenta) This 
is the soft most generally known by the name of the birch, 
and is widely diffused over the middle and southern states. 
In color and appearance the bark much resembles that of 
the cherry tree ; on old trees, at the close of winter, it is 
frequently detached in transverse portions, in the form of 
hard ligneous plates six or eight inches broad. The leaves, 
for a fortnight after their appearance, are covered with a 
thick silvery down, which disappears soon after. They are 
about two inches long, serrate, heart-shaped at the base, 
acuminate at the summit, and of a pleasing tint and fine 
texture. The wood is of excellent quality, and Michaux 
recommends its introduction largely into the forests of the 
north of Europe. 

The Yellow birch {B. luted) grows most plentifully in 
Nova Scotia, Maine, and New Brunswick, on cool, rich 
soils, where it is a tree of the largest size. It is remark- 
able for the color and arrangement of its outer bark, which 
is of a brilliant golden yellow, and is frequently seen divided 
into fine strips rolled backwards at the end, but attached in 
the middle. The leaves are about three and a half inches 
long, two and a half broad, ovate, acuminate, and bordered 
with sharp and irregular teeth. It is a beautiful tree, with 
a trunk of nearly uniform diameter, straight, and destitute 
of branches for thirty or forty feet. 

The Red oirch (B. rubra) belongs chiefly to the south, 
being scarcely ever seen north of Virginia. It prefers the 
moist soil of river banks, where i* reaches a noble height 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 163 

[t takes its name from the cimiamon or reddish color of the 
outer bark on the young trees ; when old it becomes rough, 
furrowed, and greenish. The leaves are light green on the 
upper surface, whitish beneath, very pointed at the end, 
and terminated at the base fn an acute angle. The twigs 
are long, flexible, and pendulous ; and the limbs of a brown 
color, spotted with white. 

The European White birch. (B. alba.) This species, 
the common birch tree of Europe, is intermediate in appear- 
ance and qualities between our Canoe birch and White 
birch. The latter it resembles in its foliage, the former in 
its large size and the excellence of its wood. There is a 
distinct variety of this, to which we have alluded, called 
the Weeping birch (Vaj\ pendula), which is very rapid in 
its growth, and highly graceful in its form. From the great 
beauty of our native species, this is perhaps the only Euro- 
pean sort which it is very desirable to introduce into our 
collections. 



The Alder "Tree. Alnus. 
Nat. Ord. Betulaceae. Lin. Syst. Moncecia, Tetrandria. 

The alder tree is a native of the whole of Europe, where 
it grows to the altitude of from thirty to sixty feet. Our 
common Black alder {A. glauca), and Hazel-leaved alder 
{A. serrulata), are low shrubs of little value or interest. 
This, however, is a neat tree, remarkable for its love of 
moist situations, and thriving best in places even too wet 
for the willows ; although it will also flourish on dry and 
elevated soils The leaves are roundish in form, wavy, and 



164 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

serrated in their margins, and dark green in color. The 
tree rapidly forms an agreeable pyramidal head of foliage. 
when growing in damp situations. As it is a foreign tree 
we shall quote from Gilpin its character in scenery. " The 
alder," says he, "loves a low,*moist soil, and frequents the 
banks of rivers, and will flourish in the poorest forest 
swamps where nothing else will grow. It is perhaps the 
most picturesque of any of the aquatic tribe, except the 
weeping willow. He who would see the alder in perfection 
must follow the banks of the Mole in Surrey, through the 
sweet vales of Dorking and Mickleham, into the groves of 
Esher. The Mole, indeed, is far from being a beautiful 
river ; it is a silent and sluggish stream, but what beauty 
it has it owes greatly to the alder, which everywhere fringes 
its meadows, and in many places forms very pleasing scenes. 
It is always associated in our minds with riVer scenery, 
both of that tranquil description most frequently to be met 
with in the vales of England, and with that wider and more 
stirring cast which is to be found amidst the deep glens and 
ravines of. Scotland ; and nowhere is this tree found in 
greater perfection than on the wild banks of the river Find- 
horn and its tributary streams*, where scenery of the most 
romantic description everywhere prevails.'^* 

Although the beauty of the alder is of a secondary kind, 
it is worth occasional introduction into landscapes where 
there is inuch water to be planted round, or low running 
streams to cover with foliage. In these damp places, like 
the willow, it grows very well from truncheons or large 
hmbs, stuck in the ground, which take root and become 
trees speedily. There are two principal varieties, the 

• Lauder's Gilpin, i. p. 13G. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL tREES. 165 

common alder (A. glutinosa), and the cut-leaved aldei 
{A. glutinosa laciniata). The latter is much the hand 
somer tree, and is also the rarest in our nurseries. 



The Maple Tree. Acer. 

Nat. Ord. Aceraceas. Lin. Sijst. Polygamia, Monoecia. 

The great esteem in which the maples are he.a m the 
middle states, as ornamental trees, although they are by no 
means uncommon in every piece of woods of any extent, 
is a high proof of their superior merits for such purposes. 
These consist in the rapidity of their growth, the beauty 
of their form, the fine verdure of their foliage, and in some 
sorts, the elegance of their blossoms. Among all the spe- 
cies, both native and foreign, we consider the Scarlet- 
flowering maple as decidedly the most ornamental species. 
In the spring this tree bursts out in gly tufts of red blos- 
soms, which enliven both its own branches and the sur- 
rounding scene long before a leaf is seen on other deciduous 
trees, and when the only other appearances of vegetation 
are a few catkins of some willows or poplars swelling into 
bloom. At that season of the year the Scarlet maple is 
certainly the most beautiful tree of our forests. Besides 
this, it grows well either in the very moist soil of swamps, 
or the dry one of upland ridges, forms a fine clustering 
head of foliage, and produces an ample and delightful shade ; 
while it is also as little infected by insects of any description 
as any other tree. The latter advantage, the Sugar maple 
and our other varieties equally possess. As a handsome 



166 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

spreading tree,* perhaps the White maple deserves most, 
praise, its outline and surface being, in many cases, quite 
picturesque. There is no quality, however, for which the 
American maples are entitled to higher consideration as 
desirable objects in scenery, than for the exquisite beauty 
which their foliage assumes in ' autumn, as it fades and 
gradually dies off. At the first approach of cold we can 
just perceive a bright yellow stealing over the leaves, then 
a deeper golden tint, then a few faint blushes, until at 
length the whole mass of foliage becomes one blaze of 
crimson or orange. 

" Tints that the maple woods disclose 
Like opening buds or fading rose. 
Or various as those hues that dye 
The clouds that deck a sunset sky." 

The contrast of coloring exhibited on many of our fine 
river shores in a warm dry autumn, is perhaps superior to 
anything of the kind in the world : and the leading and 
most brilliant colors, viz. orange and scarlet, are pro- 
duced by maples. Even in Europe, they are highly 
valued for this autumnal appearance, so different from that 
of most of the trees of the old world. Very beautiful 
effects can be produced by planting the Scarlet and Sugar 
maples in the near neighborhood of the ash, which, as we 
have already noticed, assumes a fine brownish purple ; of 
the sycamore, which is yellow, and some of the oaks, which 
remain green for a long time: if to these we add a few 
evergreens, as the White pine and hemlock, to produce 
depth, we shall have a kind of kaleidoscope ground, harmo- 
nious and beautiful as the rainbow. 

When the maple is planted to grow singly on the lawn 
or in small groups, it should never be trimmed up ten oi 



DliCIUUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 1G7 

twenty feet high, a very common practice in some places, 
as this destroys half its beauty ; but if it be sulTered to 
branch out quite low down, it will form a very elegant 
head. The maple is well suited to scenes 'expressive of 
graceful beauty, as they unite to a considerable variation 
of surface, a pleasing softness and roundness of outline. 
In bold or picturesque scenes, they can be employed to 
advantage by intermingling them with the more striking 
and majestic forms of the oak, etc., where variety and 
contrast is desired. The European sycamore, which is 
also a maple, has a coarser foliage, and more of strength in 
its growth and appearance : it perhaps approaches nearer 
in general expression and effect to the plane tree, than to 
our native maples. 

It is unnecessary for us to recommend this tree for 
avenues, or for bordering the streets of cities, as its general 
prevalence in such places sufficiently indicates its acknow- 
ledged claims for beauty, shade, and shelter. It bears 
pruning remarkably well, and is easily transplanted, even 
when of large size, from its native woods or swamps. The 
finest trees, however, are produced from seed. 

The Sugar maple {Acer saccharinum) is a very abundant 
tree in the northern states and the Canadas, where it 
sometimes forms immense forests. The bark is white ; the 
leaves four or five inches broad, and five-lobed ; varying, 
however, in size according to the age of the tree. The 
flowers are small, yellowish, and suspended by slender 
drooping peduncles. The seed is contained in two capsules 
united at the base, and terminated in a membranous wing ; 
they are ripe in October. From certain parts of the trunks 
of old Sugar maples, the fine wood called hird's-eye maple 



168 landscAlPe gardening. 

is taken, which is so highly prized by the cabinet-makers 
and the sap, which flows in abundance from holes bored in 
the stem of the tree early in March, produces the well- 
known 7naple sugar. This can be clarified, so as to equal 
that of the cane in flavor and' appearance ; and it has been 
demonstrated that the planting of maple orchards, for the 
production of sugar, would be a profitable investment* 

The Scarlet-flowering maple {A. ruhruni) is found 
chiefly on the borders of rivers, or in swamps ; the latter 
place appears best suited to this tree, for it thei'e often 
attains a very large size : it is frequently called the Soft 
maple or Swamp maple. The blossoms come out about 
the middle of April while the branches are yet bare of 
leaves, and their numerous little pendulous stamens appear 
like small tufts of scarlet or purple threads. The leaves 
somewhat resemble those of the Sugar maple, but are 
rather smaller, and only three or four lobed, glaucous or 
whitish underneath, and irregularly toothed on the margin. 
This tree may easily be distinguished when young from the 
former, by the bark of the trunk, which is grey, with large 
whitish spots. Its trunk, in the choicest parts, furnishes the 
beautiful wood known as the curled maple. 

The White or Silver-leaved maple. {A. eriocarpum.) 
This species somewhat resembles the Scarlet-flowering 
maple. West of the Alleghany mountains it is seen in 
perfection, and is well known as the White maple. Its 
flowers are pale; the leaves are divided into four lobes, 
and have a beautiful white under surfiice. Michaux, 
speaking of this tree, says : "In no part of the United 

* A. nigrum is a variety omitted by Mr. Downing, tliougli quite well ivuown 
at the time he wrote. It differs from A. sacchai-init7n, in having much hirger 
leaves, and the bark of a darker color ; besides which, the sap is more abund- 
ant, and much sweeter, and is considered at the West much the finer tree of 
the two.— H. W. S. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 169 

States is it more multiplied than in the western country, 
and nowhere is its vegetation more luxuriant than on the 
banks of the Ohio. There, sometimes alone and sometimes 
mingled with the willow, which is found along these waters, 
it contributes singularly, by its magnificent foliage, to the 
embellishment of the scene. The brilliant white of the 
leaves beneath, forms a striking contrast with the >"-ight 
green above ; and the alternate reflection of the two surfaces 
in the water, heightening the beauty of this wonderful 
moving mirror, aids in forming an enchanting picture, 
which, during my long excursions in a canoe in these re- 
gions of solitude and silence, I contemplated with unwearied 
admiration."* There, on those fine, deep, alluvial soils, it 
often attains twelve or fifteen feet in circumference. 

As an ornamental variety, the Silver-leaved maple is one 
of the most valuable. It is exceedingly rapid in its growth, 
often making shoots six feet long in a season ; and the 
silvery hue of its foliage, when stirred by the wind, as well 
as its fine, half drooping habit, render it highly interesting 
to the planter. Admirable specimens of this species may 
be seen in the wide streets of Burlington, N. J. 

The Moose wood, or Striped maple {A. striatum), is a small 
tree with beautifully striped bark. It is often seen on the 
mountains which border the Hudson, but abounds most 
profusely in the north of the continent. Acer nigrum is 
the Black sugar tree of Genesee. A. Negundo,-\ the Ash- 
leaved maple, has handsome pinnated foliage of a light 
green hue ; it forms a pleasing tree of medium size. 
These are our principal native species J 

* N. A. Sylva, i. 214. t Negundo fraxinifolium. 

\ Mr. Douglas has discovered a very superb maple {A. macroiihyllmn) , on 
the Columbia river, with very large leaves, and fine fragrant yellow blossoms 



no LANDSCAPE GARDENING, 

Among the finest foreign sorts is the Norway maple 
(A. platanoides), with leaves intermediate in appearance- 
between those of the plane tree and Sugar maple. The 
bark of the trunk is brown, and rougher in appearance 
than our maples, and the tree is more loose and spreading 
in its growth ; it also grows more rapidly, and strongly 
resembles at a little distance, the button-wood in its young 
state. Another interesting species is the sycamore tree or 
Great maple {A. pseudo-platanus). The latter also 
considerably resembles the plane ; but the leaves, like those 
of the common maple, are smoother. They are five-lobed, 
acute in the divisions, and are placed on much longer 
petioles than those of most of the species. The flowers, 
strung in clusters like those of the common currant, are 
greenish in color. It is much esteemed as a shade-tree 
in Scotland and some parts of the Continent, and grows 
with vigor, producing a large head, and widely spreading 
branches. 



The Locust Tree. Robinia. 
Nat. Ord. Leguminosae. Lin. Syst. Diadelphia, Decandria. 

This is a well-known American tree, found growing 
wild in all of the states west of the Delaware River. It is 
a tree of secondary size, attaining generally the height of 
forty or fifty feet. The leaves are pinnated, bluish-green 
m color, and are thinly scattered over the branches. The 
white blossoms appear in June, and are highly fragrant and 
beautiful ; and from them the Paris perfumers distil an 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 171 

extrait which greatly resembles orange-flower water, and 
is used for the same purposes. 

As an ornamental tree we do not esteem the locust 
highly. The objections to it are, 1st, its meagreness and 
lightness of foliage, producing but little shade ; secondly, 
the extreme brittleness of its branches, which are liable to 
be broken and disfigured by every gale of wind ; and lastly 
the abundance of suckers which it produces. Notwith- 
standing these defects, we would not entirely banish the 
locust from our pleasure-grounds ; for its light foliage of a 
fresh and pleasing green may often be used to advantage 
in producing a variety with other trees ; and its very fra- 
grant blossoms are beautiful, when in the beginning of 
summer they hang in loose pendulous clusters from among 
its light foliage. These will always speak sufficiently in 
its favor to cause it to be planted more or less, where a 
variety of trees is desired. It should, however, be re- 
membered that the foliage comes out at a late period in 
spring, and falls early in autumn, which we consider objec- 
tions to any tree that is to be planted in the close vicinity 
of the mansion. It is valuable for its extremely rapid 
growth when young ; as during the first ten or fifteen years 
of its life it exceeds in thrifty shoots almost all other forest 
trees : but it is comparatively short-lived, and in twenty 
yea is' time many other trees would completely overtop and 
outstrip it. It is easily propagated by seed, which is by 
far the best mode of raising it, and it prefers d deep, rich, 
sandy loam. 

The locust can be cultivated to advantage as a timber 
tree, only upon deep, mellow, and rather rich, sandy soils ; 
there, its growth is wonderfully vigorous, and an immense 
number may be grown upon a small area of ground. 

There are but two distinct species of locust which attain 



172 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

the size of trees in this country, viz. the Yellow locust 
{R. pseud-acacia), so called from' the color of its wood ; and 
the Honey locust {R. viscosa)', a smaller tree, with reddish 
flowers, and branches covered with a viscid honey-like gum. 
Some pretty varieties of the former have been originated 
in gardens abroad, among which the Parasol locust [Var. 
umbraculifera) is decidedly the most interesting. We 
recollect some handsome specimens which were imported 
by the late M. Parmentier, and grew in his garden at 
Brooklyn, Long Island. They were remarkable for their 
unique, rounded, umbrella-like heads, when grafted ten or 
twelve feet high on the common locust. 

There are two pretty distinct varieties of the common 
Yellow locust, cultivated on the Hudson. That most fre- 
quently seen is the White variety, which forms a tall and 
narrow head ; the other is the Black locust, with a broad 
and more spreading head, and larger trunk ; the latter may 
be seen in fine condition at Clermont. It is a much finer 
ornamental tree, and appears less liable to the borer than 
the White varietv. 



The Three-thorned Acacia Tree. Gleditschia. 

Nat. Ord. Leguminosae. Lin. Syst. Polygamia, Dioecia. 

This tree is often called the Three-thorned locust, from 
some resemblance to the latter tree. Its delicate, doubly 
pinna,te leaves, however, are much more like those of the 
Acacias, a family of plants not hardy enough to bear our 
climate. ' It is a much finer tree in appearance than the 
common locust, although the flowers are greenish, and 
inconspicuous, instead of possessing the beauty and fra- 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 173 

grance of the latter. There is, however, a peculiar elc« 
gance about its light green and beautiful foliage, which 
wafts so gracefully in the summer breeze, and folds up on 
the slightest shower, that it stands far above that tree in 
our estimation, for the embellishment of scenery. The 
branches spread out rather horizontally, in a fine, broad 
and lofty head ; there are none of the dead and unsightl} 
branches so common on the locust ; and the light feathery 
foliage, lit up in the sunshine, has an airy and transparent 
look, rarely seen in so large a tree, which sometimes pro- 
duces very happy effects in composition with other trees. 
The bark is of a pleasing brown, smooth in surface the 
branches are studded over with curious, long, triply-pointed 
thorns, which also often jut out in clusters, in every direc- 
tion from the trunk of the tree, to the length of four or five 
inches, giving it a most singular and forbidding look. In 
winter, these and the long seed-pods, five or six inches in 
length, which hang upon the boughs at that season, give the 
whole tree a very distinct character. These pods contain 
a sweetish substance, somewhat resembling honey ; 
whence the tree has in some places obtained the name of 
Honey locust, which properly belongs to Rohinia viscosa. 
Another recommendation of this tree, is the variety of 
picturesque shapes which it assumes in growing up ; some- 
times forming a tall pyramidal head of 50 or 60 feet, some- 
times a low horizontally branched tree, and at others it 
expands into a wide irregular head, quite flattened at the 
summit. It does not produce suckers like the locust, -and 
may therefore be introduced into any part of the grounds. 
When but a limited extent is devoted to a lawn or garden, 
this tree should be among the first to obtain a place ; as 
one or two Three-thorned Acacias, mingled with other 



174 LANDSCAPE GARDENINvS. 

larger and heavier foliage, will at once produce a charming 
variety. 

The Three-thorned Acacia has been strongly recom- 
mended for nedges. It is too liable to become thin at the 
bottom, to serve well for an outer inclosure, but if kept 
well trinnned, it forms a capital farm fence and protection 
against the larger animals, growing up in much less time 
than the hawthorn. Like the locust, it has the disadvan- 
tage of expanding its foliage late in the spring. In the 
strong rich soils which it prefers, it grows very vigorously, 
and is easily propagated from seeds. 

The Three-thorned Acacia (G. triacanthos) is the prin- 
cipal species, and is indigenous to the states west of the 
Alleghanies. G. monosperma is another kind, which is 
scarcely distinguishable from the Three-thorned, except in 
having one-seeded pods. The seedlings raised from G. 
triacanthos are often entirely destitute of thorns. 

There is a fine species called the Chinese {G. horrida), 
with larger and finer foliage, and immense triple thorns, 
which is interesting from its great singularity. A tree of 
this kind which we imported, has stood our coldest winters 
perfectly uninjured, and promises to be beautiful and very 
hardy. Some noble specimens of the common Three- 
thorned Acacia may be seen upon the lawn at Hyde Park, 
the fine seat of the late Dr. Hosack. 



The Judas Tree. Cercis. 
Nat. Ord. Leguminosse. l.in. Syst. Decandria, Monogynia. 

A handsome low tree, about 20 feet in height, which is 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 175 

found scattered sparsely through warm sheltered valleys, 
along the Hudson and other rivers of the northern sections 
of the United States, but most abundantly on the Ohio. 
It is valuable as an ornamental tree, no less on account of 
its exceedingly neat foliage, which is exactly heart-shaped, 
or cordiform, and of a pleasing green tint, than for its 
pretty pink blossoms. These, which are pea-shaped, are 
produced in little clusters close to the branches, often in 
great profusion, early in the spring, before the leaves have 
expanded. From the appearance of the limbs at that 
period, it has in some places obtained the name of Red- 
hud. It is then one of the most ornamental of trees, and, 
in company with the Dog- wood, serves greatly to enliven 
the scene, and herald the advent of the floral season. 
These blossoms, according to Loudon {Encycl. of Plants), 
having an agreeable poignancy, are frequently eaten in 
salads abroad, and pickled by the French families in 
Canada. The name of Judas tree appears to have been 
whimsically bestowed by Gerard, an old English gardener, 
who described it in 1596, and relates that "this is the tree 
whereon Judas did hange himselfe ; and not upon the elder 
tree, as it is said." 

There are two species in common cultivation ; the 
American (C Canadensis) and the European (C Sili- 
qnasti'um). The latter much resembles our native tree. 
The flowers, however, are deeper in color ; the leaves 
darker, and less pointed at the extremity. It also produces 
blossoms rather more profusely than the American tree. 
Both species are highly worthy of a place in the garden, or 
near the house, where their pleasing vernal influences may 
be observed. 



17G LANDSCAPE GARDEXING. 

The Chestnut Tree. Castanea. 

Nat. Old. Corylacece. Lin. Syst. MoncEcia, Polyandria. 

The chestnut, for its qualities in Landscape Gardening 
ranks with that king of the forest, the oak. Like that tree, 
it attains an enormous size, and its longevity in some cases 
is almost equally remarkable. Its fine massy foliage, and 
sweet nuts, have rendered it a favorite tree since a very 
remote period. Among the ancients, the latter were a 
common article of food. 

" Sunt nobis mitia poma, 

CasfanecB molles, et pressi copia lactis." 

ViRG. EcL. 1, 

They appear to have been in general use, both in a raw 
and cooked state. In times of scarcity, they probably 
supplied in some measure the place of bread-stuffs, and 
were thence highly valued : 

" As for the thrice three angled beech nut shell, 
Or Chestnut's armed huske and hid kernell, 
No squire durst touch, the law would not afford. 
Kept for the court, and for the lung's own board." 

Bp. Hall, Sat. B. III. 1. 

Even to this day, in those parts of France and Italy 
nearest the great chestnut forests of the Appenines, these 
nuts form a large portion of the food which sustains the 
peasantry, where grain is but little cultivated, and potatoes 
almost unknown. There a sweet and highly nutritious 
flour is prepared from them, which makes a delicious 
bread. Large quantities of the fruit are therefore 
annually collected in those countries, and dried and stored 



DECIDUOUS OUNAMEN'TAL TREES. 177 

away for the winter's consumption. Old Evelyn says, 
"the bread of the flour is exceedingly nutritive : it is a 
robust food, and makes w^omen well complexioned, as 1 
have read in a good author. They also make fritters of 
chestnut flour, which they wet with rose-water, and 
sprinkle wdth grated parmigans, and so fry them in fresh 
butter for a delicate." The fruit of the chestnut abounds 
in saccharine matter ; and we learn from a French 
periodical, that experiments have been made, by which it 
is ascertained that the kernel yields nearly sixteen pei 
cent, of good sugar. 

As a timber tree, this is greatly inferior to the oak, being 
looser grained, and more liable to decay ; and the 
American wood is more open to this objection than that 
produced on the opposite side of the Atlantic. It is, 
however, in general use among us, for posts and rails in 
fencing ; and when the former are charred, they are found 
to be quite durable. 

The finest natural situations for this tree appear to be 

the mountainous slopes of mild climates, where it attains 

the greatest possible perfection. Michaux informs us, that 

the most superb and lofty chestnuts in America are to be 

found in such situations, in the forests of the Carolinas. 

Abroad, every one will call to mind the far-famed chestnuts 

of Mount Etna, of wonderful age and extraordinary size. 

The great chestnut there, has excited the surprise of 

numerous travellers ; at present, however, it appears to be 

scarcely more than a mere shell, the w*reck of former 

greatness. Wiien visited by M. Houel {Arboretum Brit), 

it was in a state of decay, having lost the greater part of 

its branches, and its trunk was quite hollow. A house was 

erected in the interior, an^ some country people resided in 

12 



17S LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

it, with an oven, in which, according to the custom of I he 

country, they dried chestnuts, filberts, and other fruits, 

which they wished to preserve for winter use ; using as 

fuel, when they could find no other, pieces cut with a 

hatchet froni the interior of the tree. In Brydone's time, 

in 1770, this tree measured two hundred and four feet in 

circumference. He says it had the appearance of five 

distinct trees ; but he was assured that the space was once 

filled with solid timber, and there was no bark on the 

inside. This circumstance of an old trunk, hollow in the 

interior, becoming separated so as to have the appearance 

of being the remains of several distinct trees, is frequently 

met with in the case of very old mulberry trees in Great 

Britain, and olive trees in Italy. Kircher, about a century 

before Brydone, affirms that an entire flock of sheep might 

be inclosed within the Etna chestnut, as in a fold.* (A?-- 

boretum Brit. p. 1988.) 

* One of the most celebrated Chestnut trees on record, is that called the 
Tortworth Chestnut, in England. In 1772, Lord Ducie, the owner, had a 
portrait of it taken, which was accompanied by the following description : 
" The east view of the ancient Chestnut tree at Tortworth, in the county ol 
Gloucester, which measures nineteen yards in circamference, and is mentioned 
by Sir Robert Aikins in his history of that county, as a famous tree in King 
John's reign : and by Mr. Evelyn in his Sylva, to have been so remarkable in 
the reign of King Stephen, 1135, as then to be called the great Chestnut of 
Tortworth ; from which it may reasonably be presumed to have been standing 
before the Conquest, 1066." This tree is still standing. 

On the estate of Marshall S. Eice, Esq., at Newton Centre, is a venerable, 
though atill vigorous and beautiful chestnut tree, the dimensions of which are 
believed to exceed any tree of the same species in New England. In proof of 
this, we are informed that a correspondence has recently been going on, through 
the medium of one of our agricultural papers, between the owner of the above 
tree, and several gentlemen in this f nd other States, none of whom have shown 
fio'ures exceeding the following: size of tlie "Eice Tree" — circumference at 
base of trunk, 24 3-10 feet; height, 76 feet: spread of limbs, 93 feet. This 
tree is very prolific, and has never been known to fail of bearing a large crop 
of nuts. About five feet from the ground, the trunk divides into twn well- 
formed shafts, which run up to the height of thirty feet, vyithout a branch.— 
H. W. S. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 179 

In considering the chestnut as highly adapted to 
ornament the grounds of extensive country residences, 
much that we have already said of the oak will apply to 
this tree. When young, its smooth stem, clear and bright 
foliage, and lively aspect, when adorned with the numerous 
light greenish yellow blossoms, which project beyond the 
mass of leaves, render it a graceful and beautiful tree. 
It has long been a favorite with the poets for its grateful 
shade ; and as the roots run deep, the soil beneath it is 
sufficiently rich and sheltered to afford an asylum for the 
minutest beauties of the woods. Tennyson sweetly 
says : — 

" That slope beneath the chestnut tall 
Is wooed with choicest breaths of air, 
Methinks that I could tell you all 
The cowslips and the king cups there." 

When old, its huge trunk, wide-spread branches, lofty head, 
and irregular outline, all contribute to render it a 
picturesque tree of the very first class. In that state, 
when standing alone, with free room to develope itself on 
every side, like the oak, it gives a character of dignity, 
majesty, and grandeur, to the scene, beyond the power of 
most trees to confer. It is well known that the favorite 
tree of Salvator Rosa, and one which was most frequently 
introduced with a singularly happy effect into his wild and 
picturesque compositions, was the chestnut ; sometimes 
a massy and bold group of its verdure, but oftener an old 
and storm-rifted giant, half leafless, or a barren trunk 
coated with a rich verdure of mosses and lichens. 

The chestnut in maturity, like the oak, has a great 
variety of outline ; and no trees are better fitted than 
these for the formation of grand groups, heavy masses, 



180 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

or wide outlines of foliage. A higher kind of beauty, with 
more dignity and variety, can be formed of these two 
genera of trees when disposed in grand masses, than with 
any other forest trees of temperate climates ; perhaps wa 
may say of any climate. 

There is so little difference in the common Sweel 
chestnut {Castanea vesca) of both hemispheres, that they 
are generally considered the same species. Varieties have 
Deen produced in Europe, which far surpass our common 
chestnuts of the woods in size, though not in delicacy and 
richness of flavor. Those cultivated for the table in 
France, are known by the name of marj^ons. These 
improved sorts of the Spanish chestnut bear fruit nearly 
as large as that of the Horse-chestnut, inferior in 
sweetness, when raw, to our wild species, but delicious 
when roasted. The Spanish chestnut thrives well, and 
forms a large tree, south of the Highlands of the Hudson, 
but is rather tender north of this neighborhood. A tree 
in the grounds at Presque Isle, the seat of William 
Denning, Esq., Dutchess Co., is now 40 feet high. They 
may be procured from the nurseries, and we can hardly 
recommend to our planters more acceptable additions to 
i>ur nut-bearing forest trees. 

The Chinquapin, or Dwarf chestnut (C. pumila), is 
a curious low bush, from four to six feet high. The leaves 
are nearly the size of the ordinary chestnut, or rather 
smaller, and the fruit about two-thirds as lars;e. It is indi- 
genous to all the states south of Pennsylvania, and is often 
found in great abundance. It is a curious little tree, or 
more properly a shrub, and merits a place in the garden ; 
or it may be advantageously planted for underwood in 
a group of large trees. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 181 

As the chestnut, hke the oak, forms strong tap-roots, itia 
removed with some difficulty. The finest trees are pro- 
duced from the nut, and their growth is much more rapid 
when young, than that of the transplanted tree. It prefers 
a deep sandy loam, rather moist than dry ; and will not, 
like many forest trees, accommodate itself to wet and low 
situations. 



The Osage Orange Tree. Madura. 
N'at. Ord. Urticaceae. Lin. Syst. Dicseia, Tetrandria. 

'j'liis interesting tree is found growing wild on the 
Arkansas River, and other western tributaries of the 
Mississippi, south of St. Louis, where, according to Mr. 
Nuttall, it attains the height of 50 or 60 feet. The 
branches are rather light-colored, and armed Avith spines 
(produced at every joint) about an inch and a half long. 
The leaves are long, ovate, and acuminate, or pointed 
at the extremity ; they are deep green, and more glossy 
and bright than those of the orange. The blossoms are 
greenish ; and the fruit is about the shape and size of a 
large orange, but the surface much rougher than that fruit. 
In the south, we are told, it assumes a deep yellow color, 
and, at a short distance, strikingly resembles the common 
orange ; the specimens of fruit which we have seen 
growing in Philadelphia, did not assume that fine color ; 
but the appearance of the tree laden with it, is not unlike 
that of a large orange tree. It was first transplanted into 
our gardens from a village of the Osage tribe of Indians, 
whence the common name of Osao;e orange. The intro- 
duction of this tree was one of the favorable results of 



182 LANDSCAPE GARDENINu. 

Lewis and Clarke's Expedition. It was named by them 
in honor of the late Wm, Maclure, Esq., President of the 
American Academy of Natural Sciences. 

The wood is fine grained, yellow in color, and takes 
a brilliant polish. It is also very strong and elastic, and on 
this account the Indians of the wide district to which 
this tree is indigenous, employ it extensively for bows, 
greatly preferring it to any other timber. Hence its com- 
mon name among the white inhabitants is Bodac, a cor 
ruption of the term bois d'arc (bow-ivood), of the French 
settlers. A fine yellow dye is extracted from the wood, 
similar to that of the Fustic. 

As the Osage orange belongs to the monoecious class of 
plants, it does not perfect its fruit unless both the male and 
female trees are growing in the same neighborhood. 
Many have believed the fruit to be eatable, both from its 
fine appearance, and from its affinity with and resemblance 
to that of the bread-fruit ; but all attempts to render it 
pleasant, either cooked or in a raw state, have hitherto 
failed : it is therefore probably inedible, though not injuri- 
ous. Perhaps when fully ripened, some mode of preparing 
it by baking or otherwise, may render it palatable. 

As an ornamental tree, the Osage orange is rather too 
loose in the disposition of its wide-spreading branches, to be 
called beautiful in its form. But the bright glossy hue of 
its foliage, and especially the unique appearance of a good 
sized tree when covered with the large, orange-like .fruit, 
render it one of the most interesting of our native trees ; 
while it has the same charm of rarity as an exotic, since it 
was introduced from the far west, and is yet but little 
planted in the United States. On a small lawn, where but 
few trees are needed, and where it is desirable that the 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENIAL TREES. 183 

species employed should all be as distinct as possible, to 
give the whole as much variety as can be obtained in 
a limited space, such trees should be selected as will not 
only be ornamental, but combine some other charm, 
association, or interest. Among such trees, we would by 
all means give the Osage orange a foremost place. It has 
the additional recommendation of being a fine shade tree 
and of producing an excellent and durable wood * 

The stout growth and strong thorns of this tree have 
been thou";ht indicative of its usefulness for the makino; of 
hedges : a method of fencing, which sooner or later must 
be adopted in many parts of this country . and from the 
experiments which we have seen made with plants of the 
Osage orange, we think it likely to answer a very valuable 
purpose ; especially in the middle and southern states. 
The Messrs. Landreth of Philadelphia have lately offered 
many thousands of them to the public at a low rate, and 
we hope to see the matter fairly tested in various parts of 
the Union. 

A rich deep loam is the soil best adapted to the growth 
of this tree ; and as it is rather tender when young (though 
quite hardy when it attains a considerable size) it should, 
as far as possible, be planted in a rather sheltered situation. 
A dry soil is preferable, if it must be placed in a cold 

* A very superb effect may be produced with this tree, by cutting it 
>*everely bacli for several years, and compelling it, as the English c;ill it, to 
stole, by sending out a dozen leading shoots, instead of one ; a plant treated in 
this way, becomes, after a few years, a gigantic bush, round-headed, and most 
luxuriant, and when covered with its golden fruit, peeping out from amidst its 
exquisitely green foliage, it is the most superb floral ornament to a lawn that 
can be conceived. We recollect a surprisingly fine specimen of an Osage 
Orange treated in this way, at the late Dr. Edmondston's, near Baltimore, 
where a plant about twenty-four years old measured in circumference, one hun- 
dred and $ixty-jive feet ! the limbs lying about with a profusion of growth 
positively wonderful, and covered with fruit.— H. W. S. 



184 LANDSCAPE GAHDENING. 

aspect, as all plants not perfectly hardy are much injured 
by the late growth, caused by an excess of moisture and 
consequent upon an immature state of the wood, which is 
unable to resist the effects of a severe winter. 



The Mulberry Tree. Morus. 

Nat. Ord. UrticaceiE. Liu. Syst. Monoecia, Tetrandiia. 

The three principal species of the Mulberry, are the 
common Red American, the European Black, and the 
White mulberries. None of them are truly handsome in 
scenery ; and the two latter are generally low spreading 
trees, valued entirely for the excellency of the fruit, or the 
suitableness of the foliage for feeding silkworms. Our 
common mulberry, however, in free, open situations, forms 
a large, wide-spreading, horizontally branched, and not 
inelegant tree: the rough, heart-shaped leaves with which 
it is thickly clothed, afford a deep shade ; and it groups well 
with the lime, the catalpa, and many other round-headed 
trees. We consider it, therefore, duly entitled to ? place 
in all extensive plantations ; while the pleasant flavor of 
its slightly acid, dark red fruit, will recommend it to those 
who wish to add to the delicacies of the dessert. The 
timber of our wild mulberry tree is of the very first quality , 
when fully seasoned, it takes a dull lemon-colored hue, and 
is scarcely less durable than the locust or Live oak. Like 
those trees, it is much valued by ship-builders ; and at 
Philadelphia and Baltimore it commands a high price, for 
the frame-work, knees, floor-timbers, and tree-nails of 
vessels. The Red mulberry is much slower in its growth 



DECIDUOUS OUNAMENTAL TREES. 185 

than the locust ; but so far as we ai'e aware it is not liable 
to the attacks of any insect destructive to its timber ; and 
it would probably be found profitable to cultivate it as a 
timber tree. The locust, it will be remembered, grows 
thriftily only on peculiar soils, loose, dry, and mellow ; the 
Red mulberry prefers deep, moist, and rich situations. No 
extensive experiments, so far as we can learn, have been 
made in its culture ; but we would recommend it to the 
particular attention of those who have facilities for planta 
tions of this kind. 

The Black mulberry of Europe (Morus nigra)*is a low, 
slow-growing tree, with rough leaves, somewhat resembling 
those of our Red mulberry, but more coarsely serrated, and 
often found divided into four or five lobes ; while the leaves, 
which are not heart-shaped on our nat've species, are genC' 
rally three-lobed. The European mulberry bears a fruit 
four or five times as large as the American, full of rich 
sweet juice. It has long been a favorite in England, and 
is one of the most healthy and delicious fruits of the season, 
Glover says : 

" There the flushing peach. 



The apple, citron, ahiiond, pear, and date, 
Pomegranates, purple mulberry, and fig. 
From interlacing branches mix their hues 
And scents, the passengers' delight." 

* Leonid. B. II. 

We regret that so excellent a fruit should be so little 
cultivated here. It succeeds extremely well in the middle 

* Further experience has shown, tliat tliis tree is not to be depended upon, 
at least as far north as the middle portion of the Hudson Kiver. An admirable 
substitute for the fruit, is Downing's Seedling Mulberry, raised some years ago 
by Mr. Charles Downir.g, of Newburgh, and while being an excellent fruit, 
has, we believe, the additional merit of being ever-bearing.— II. W. S. 



186 LANDSCAPE GARD.:;N1NG. 

states ; and as it ripens at the very period in midsummei 
when fruits are scarcest, there can be no more welcome 
addition to our pomonal treasures, than its deep purple and 
luscious berries. According to Loudon, it is a tree of great 
durability ; in proof of which he quotes a specimen at Sion 
House, 300 years old, which is supposed to have been 
planted in the 16th century by the botanist Turner. 

The White mulberry (JM. alba) is the species upon the 
leaves of which the silkworms are fed. The fruit is insipid 
and tasteless, and the tree is but little cultivated to embellish 
ornamental plantations, though one of the most useful in 
the world, when its importance in the production of silk is 
taken into account. There are a great number of varieties 
of this species to be found in the different nurseries and silk 
plantations ; among them the Chinese mulberry [M. multi- 
caulis) grows rapidly, but scarcely forms more than a large 
shrub at the north ; and its very large, tender, and soft 
green foliage is interesting in a large collection. The fruit 
is, we believe, of no importance ; but it is the most valuable 
of all mulberries as food for the silkworm, while its growth 
is the most vigorous, and its leaves more easily gathered 
than those of any other tree of the genus. 



The Paper Mulberry Tree. Broussonetia. 
Nat. Ord. Urticaceae. Lin. Syst. Dioecia, Tetrandria. 

The Paper mulberry is an exotic tree of a low growth, 
rarely exceeding twenty-five or thirty feet, indigenous to 
Japan and the South Sea Islands, but very common in our 
gardens. It is remarkable for the great variety of forms 
exhibited in its foliage ; as upon young trees it is almost 



DECIDUOITS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 187 

irr.possible to find two exactly alike, though the prevailing 
outlines are either heart-shaped, or more or less deeply cut 
or lobed. These leaves are considered valueless for feed- 
ing the silkworm ; but in the South Seas the bark is woven 
into dresses worn by the females ; and in China and Japan 
extensive use is made of it in the manufacture of a paper 
of the softest and most beautiful texture. This is fabricated 
from the inner bark of the young shoots, which is first boiled 
to a soft pulp, and then submitted to processes greatly 
similar to those performed in our paper-mills. This tree 
blossoms in spring and ripens its fruit in the month of 
August. The latter is dark scarlet, and quite singular and 
ornamental, though of no value. The genus is dioecious ; 
and the reason why so few fruit-bearing trees are seen in 
the United States, is because we generally cultivate only 
one of the sexes, the female. M. Parmentier, however, who 
introduced the male plant from Europe, disseminated it in 
several parts of the country ; and the beauty of the tree 
has thereby been augmented by the interest which it 
possesses when laden with its long, hairy berries. 

The value of the Paper mulberry, in ornamental planta- 
tions, arises from its exotic look, as compared with other 
trees, from the singular diversity of its foliage, the beauty 
of its reddish berries, and from the rapidity of its growth. 
It is deficient in hardiness for a colder climate than that of 
New York ; but further south it is considerably esteemed 
as a shade-tree for lining the side-walks in cities. In win- 
ter its light fawn or ash-colored bark, mottled with patches 
of a darker grey, contrasts agreeably with other trees. It 
has little picturesque beauty, and should never be planted 
in quantities, but only in scattered specimens, to give 
interest and variety to a walk in the lawn or shrubbery. 



188 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

The Sweet Gum Tree. Liquidamhar. 

Nat. Ord. Platanaceae. Lin. Sijst. Moncecia, Polyandria. 

According to Michaux,* the Sweet gum is one of our 
most extensively diffused trees. On the seashore it is seen 
as far north as Portsmouth ; and it extends as far south as 
the Gulf of Mexico and the Isthmus of Darien. In many 
of the southern states it is one of the commonest trees of the 
forest ; it is rarely seen, however, along the banks of the 
Hudson (except in New Jersey), or other large streams of 
New York. It is not unlike the mjfple in general appear- 
ance, and its palmate, five-lobed leaves are hi catline much 
hke the Sugar maple, though darker in color and firmer in 
texture. It may also be easily distinguished from that tree, 
by the curious appearance of its secondary branches, which 
have a peculiar roughness, owing to the bark attaching 
itself in plates edgewise to the trunk, instead of laterally, as 
in the usual manner. The fruit is globular, somewhat 
resembling that of the buttonwood, but much rougher, and 
bristling with points. The male and female catkins appear 
on different branches of the same tree early in spring. 

This tree grows in great perfection in the forests of New 
Spain. It was first described by a Spanish naturalist. Dr. 
Hernandez, who observed that a fragrant and transparent 
gum issued from its trunk in that country, to which, from 
its appearance, he gave the name of liquid amber. This is 
now the common name of the tree in Europe ; and the gum 
is at present an article of export from Mexico, being chiefly 
valued in medicine as a styptic, and for its healing and 
balsamic properties. " This substance, which in the shops 

»N. A. Sylva, i. 315. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. ISO 

IS sometimes called the white balsam of Peru, or liquid 
storax, is, when it first issues from the tree, perfectly liquid 
and clear, white, with a slight tinge of yellow, quite bal- 
samic ; and having a most agreeable fragrance, resembling 
that of ambergris or styrax. It is stimulant and aromatic, 
and has long been used in France as a perfume, especially 
for gloves."* In the middle states a fragrant substance 
sometimes exudes from the leaves, and, by incision, small 
quantities of the gum may be procured from the trunk ; but 
a warm.er climate appears to be necessary' to its production 
in considerable quantities. 

We hardly know a more heautiful tree than the Liquid 
amber in every stage of its growth, and during every season 
of the year. Its outline is not picturesque or graceful, but 
simply beautiful, more approaching that of the maple than 
any oilier : it is, therefore, a highly pleasing, round-headed 
or tapering tree, which unites and harmonizes well with 
almost any others in composition ; but the chief beauty lies 
in the foliage. During the whole of the summer months 
it preserves, unsoiled, that dark glossy freshness which is 
so delightful to the eye ; while the singular, regularly palmate 
form of the leaves readily distinguishes it from the common 
trees of a plantation. But in autumn it assumes its gayest 
livery, and is decked in colors almost too bright and vivid 
for foliage ; forming one of the most brilliant objects in 
American scenery at that period of the year. The pre 
vailing tint of the foliage is then a deep purplish red, unlike 
any symptom of decay, and quite as rich as is commonly 
seen in the darker blossoms of a Dutch parterre. This is 
sometimes varied by a shade deeper or lighter, and occa- 
sionally an orange tint is assumed. When planted m the 

♦ Arboreliun Brit. 2051. 



190 LANDS* APE GARDENING 

neighborhood of our fine maples, ashes, and other trees 
remarkable for their autumnal coloring, the effect, in a 
warm, dry autumn, is almost magical. Whoever has 
travelled through what are called the pine barrens of New 
Jersey in such a season, must have been struck with the 
gay tints of the numberless forest trees, which line the 
roads through those sandy plains, and with the conspicuous 
beauty of the Sweet gum, or Liquidamber. 

The bark of this tree when full grown, or nearly so, is 
exceedingly rough and furrowed, like that of the oak. The 
wood is fine-grained, and takes a good polish in cabinet 
work ; thou2;h it is not so durable, nor so much esteemed 
for such purposes, as that of the Black walnut and some 
other native trees. The average height of full grown trees 
is about 35 or 40 feet. 

Liquidamhar styracijlua is the only North American 
species. It grows most rapidly in moist or even wet situa. 
tions, though it will accommodate itself to a drier soil. 



The Walnut Tree, Juglans. 
Nat. Ord. Juglandaceac. Lin. Sy^t. Moncscia, Polyandria. 

The three trees which properly come under this head 
and belong to the genus Juglans, are the Black walnut, the 
European walnut, and the Butternut. 

The Black walnut is one of the largest trees of our native 
forests. In good soils it often attains a stature of 60 or 70 
feet, and a diameter of three or four feet in the trunk, with 
a corresponding amplitude of branches. The leaves, about 
a foot or eighteen inches in length, are composed of six or 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 191 

eiglit pairs of opposite leaflets, terminated by an odd one 
They contain a very strong aromatic odor, which is emitted 
plentifully when they are bruised. The large nut, always 
borne on the extremity of the young shoots, is round, and 
covered with a thick husk ; which, instead of separating 
into pieces, and falling off like those of the hickory, rots 
away and decays gradually. The kernel of the Black 
walnut, too well known to need any description here, is 
highly esteemed, and is even considered by some persons 
to possess a finer flavor than any other walnut. 

The timber of this tree is very valuable : when well sea- 
soned it is as durable as the White oak, and is less liable 
to the attacks of sea- worms, etc., than almost any other; it 
is, therefore, highly esteemed in naval architecture for 
certain purposes. But its great value is in cabinet work. 
Its color, when exposed to the air, is a fine, rich, dark 
brown, beautifully veined in certain parts ; and as it takes 
a brilliant polish, it is coming into general use in the 
United States for furniture, as well as for the interioi 
finishing of houses. 

The Black walnut has strong claims upon the Landscape 
Gardener, as it is one of the grandest and most massive 
trees which he can employ. When full grown it is scarcely 
inferior in the boldness of its ramification or the amplitude 
of its head to the oak or chestnut ; and what it lacks in 
spirited outline when compared with those trees, is fully 
compensated, in our estimation, by its superb and heavy 
masses of foliage, which catch and throw off the broad 
lights and shadows in the finest manner. When the Black 
walnut stands alone on a deep fertile soil it becomes a truly 
majestic tree ;. and its lower branches often sweep the 
ground in a graceful curve, which gives additional beauty 
to its whole expression. It is admirably adapted to exten- 



192 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

^Ve lawns, parks, or plantations, where there is no want 
of room for the attainment of its full size and fair propor- 
tions. Its rapid growth and umbrageous foliage also 
recommend it for wide public streets and avenues. 

The European walnut (/. regid)^OY, as it is generally 
termed here, the Madeira nut, is one of the most common 
cultivated trees of Europe, where it was introduced origi- 
nally from Persia. It differs from our Black walnut (which, 
however, it much resembles) in the smooth, grey bark of 
the stem, the leaves composed of three or four pair of 
leaflets, and in the very thin-shelleJ fruit, which, though 
not exceeding the Black walnut in size, yet contains a 
much larger kernel, which is generally considered more 
delicate in flavor. In the interior of France orchards of 
the walnut are planted, and a considerable commerce is 
carried on in its products, consisting chiefly of the fruit, of 
which large quantities are consumed in all parts of Europe. 
The wood is greatly used in the manufacture of gun-stocks, 
and in cabinet-making (though it is much inferior to the 
American walnut for this purpose) ; and the oil extracted 
from the kernel is in hiirh estimation for mixing with deli- 

O O 

cate colors used in painting and other purposes. 

The European walnut is a noble tree in size, and thickly 
clad in foliage. It is much esteemed as a shade tree by the 
Dutch ; and Evelyn, who is an enthusiastic admirer of its 
beauties, mentions their fondness for this tree as in the high- 
est degree praiseworthy. " The Bergstras \_Bergstrasse], 
which extends from Heidelberg to Darmstadt, is all planted 
with walnuts ; for as by an ancient law the Borderers were 
obliged to nurse up. and take care of them, and that chiefly 
for their ornament and shade, so as a man may ride for 

* {Juglans lacinlata), Cntleaf Walnut, is a new and curious variety, witli 
large scalloped leaves. — II. W. S. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 193 

many miles about that country under a continual arbor or 
close walk, — the traveller both refreshed with the fruit and 
shade. How much such public plantations improve the 
glory and wealth of a nation ! In several places betwixt 
Hanau and Frankfort in Germany, no young farmer is 
permitted to marry a wife till he bring proof that he hath 
planted, and is the father of a stated number of walnut 
trees."* 

The nuts are imported into this country in great 
quantities ; and as they are chiefly brought from Spain 
and the Madeiras, they are here almost entirely known by 
the name of the Madeira nut. The tree is but little 
cultivated among us, though highly deserving more 
extensive favor, both on account of its value and beauty. 
It grows well in the climate of the middle states, and bears 
freely ; a specimen eighteen or twenty years old, in the 
garden of the author, has reached thirty-five feet in height, 
and bears two or three bushels of fine fruit annually ; from 
which we have already propagated several hundred 
individuals. It is not perfectly hardy north of this. 

As an ornamental tree, Gilpin remarks, that the warm 
russet hue of its young foliage makes a pleasing variety 
among the vivid green of other trees, about the end of 
May ; and the same variety is maintained in summer, by 
tlie contrast of its yellowish hue, when mixed in any 
quantity with trees of a darker tint. It stands best alone, 
as the early loss of its foliage is then of less consequence, 
and its ramification is generally beautiful. 

The Butternut (/. cathartica) belongs to this section, 
and is chiefly esteemed for its fruit, which abounds in oil, 
and is very rich and sweet. The foliage somewhat 

» Hunter's Evelyn, p. 1G8. 
13 



194 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

resembles that of the Black walnut, though the leaflets are 
smaller and narrower. The form of the nut, however, is 
strikingly different, being oblong, oval, and narrowed to a 
point at the extremity. Unlike the walnut, the husk is 
covered with a sticky gum, and the surface of the nut is 
much rougher than any other of the walnut genus. The 
bark of the butternut is grey, and the tops of old trees 
generally have a flattened appearance. It is frequently 
an uncoutl ill-shapen, and ugly tree in form, though 
occasionally, also, quite striking and picturesque. And it 
is well worthy of a place for the excellence of its fruit.* 



The Hickory Tree. Carya. 

Nat. Ord. Juglandaceae. Lin. Sijst. Moncecia, Polyandria. 

The hickories are fine and lofty North American trees, 
highly valuable for their wood, and the excellent fruit 
borne by some of the species. The timber is extremdy 
elastic, and very heavy, possessing great strength and 
tenacity. It is not much employed in architecture, as it is 
peculiarly liable to the attacks of worms, and decays 
quickly when exposed to moisture. But it is very exten- 
sively employed for all purposes requiring great elasticity 
and strength ; as for axletrees, screws, the wooden rings 
used upon the rigging of vessels, whip-handles, and axe- 

* Loudon errs greatly in his Arboretum, in supposing the butternut to be 
identical with the Black walnut : no trees in the whole American forest are 
more easily distinguished at first sight. He also states the fruit to be rancid 
.md of little value ; but no .\inerica;i lad of a dozen years will accord with 
him in this opin on. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 105 

handles ; and an immense quantity of the young poles are 
employed in the manufacture of hoops, for which they 
are admirably adapted. 

For fuel, no American wood is equal to this in the 
brilliancy with which it burns, or in the duration or amount 
of heat given out by it : it therefore commands the highest 
price in market for that purpose. 

The hickories are nearly allied to the walnuts; the 
chief botanical distinction consisting in the covermg to 
"the nut, or husk; which in the hickories separates into 
four valves, or pieces, when ripe, instead of adhering in a 
homogeneous coat, as upon the Black walnut and butter- 
nut. In size and appearance, the hickories rank with the 
first class of forest trees ; most of them growing 
vigorously to the height of 60 or 80 feet, with fine straight 
trunks, well balanced and ample heads, and handsome, 
hvely, pinnated foliage. When confined among other 
trees in the forest, they shoot up 50 or GO feet without 
branches ; but when standing singly, they expand into a 
fine head near the ground and produce a noble, lofty 
pyramid of foliage, rather rounded at the top. They have 
all the qualities which are necessary to constitute fine, 
graceful park trees, and are justly entitled to a place in 
every considerable plantation. 

The most ornamental species are the Shellbark hickory, 
the Pignut, and the Pecan-nut. The former and the latter 
produce delicious nuts, and are highly worthy of 
cultivation for their fruit alone ; while all of them assume 
very handsome shapes during every stage of their growth, 
and ultimately become noble trees. Varieties of the 
Shellbark hickory are sometimes seen producing nuts oi 
twice or thrice the ordinary size ; and we have not the 
least doubt that the fruit might be so improved in size and 



190' LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

delicacy of flavor by careful cultivation, as greatly to 
suipass the European walnut, for the table. This result 
will probably be attained by planting the nuts of the finest 
varieties found in our woods, in rich moist soil, kept in 
high cultivation ; as all improved varieties of fruit have 
been produced in this way, and not, as many suppose, by 
cultivating the original species. These remarks also 
apply to the Pecan-nut ; a western sort, which thrives well 
in the middle states, and which produces a nut more 
delicate in flavor than any other of this continent. 

These trees form strong tap-roots, and are, therefore, 
somewhat difficult to transplant ; but they are easily 
reared from the nut ; and, for the reason stated above, this 
method should be adopted in preference to any other, 
except in particular cases. 

The principal species of the hickory are the following : 

The Shellbark hichory (C. alba), so called on account 
of the roughness of its bark, which is loosened from the 
trunk in long scales or pieces, bending outwards at the 
extremity, and remaining attached by the middle ; this 
akes place, however, only on trees of some size. The 
eaves are composed of two pair of leaflets, with an odd or 
terminal one. The scales which cover the buds of the 
Shellbark in winter, adhere only to the lower half, while 
the upper half of the bud is left uncovered, by which this 
sort is readily distinguished from the other species. The 
hickory nuts of our markets are the product of this tree ; 
they are much esteerned in every part of the Union, and 
are exported in considerable quantities to Europe. Among 
many of the descendants of the original Dutch settlers of 



DEGIDUdtJS ORNAMENTAL TREES. I97 

New York and New Jersey, the fruit is commonly known 
by the appellation of the Kisky-tom nut* 

The Pecan-nut {Pacainer of the French), (C olivcefor- 
mis) is found only^in the western states. It abounds on 
the Missouri, Arkansas, Wabash, and Illinois Rivers, and 
a portion of the Ohio : Michaux states that there is a 
swamp of 800 acres on the right bank of the Ohio, 
opposite the Cumberland river, entirely covered with it. 
It is a handsome, stately tree, about 60 or 70 feet in height, 
with leaves a foot or eighteen inches long, composed of 
six or seven pairs of leaflets much narrower than those 
of our hickories. The nuts are contained in a thin, 
somewhat four-sided husk; they are about an inch or an 
inch and a half long, smooth, cylindrical, and thin-shelled. 
The kernel is not, like most of the hickories, divided by 
partitions, and it has a very delicate and agreeable flavor. 
They form an object of petty commerce between Upper 
and Lower Louisiana. From New Orleans, they are 
exported to the West Indies, and to the ports of the 
United States, f 

Besides these two most valuable species, our forests 
produce the Pignut hickory (C porcina), a lofty tree with 
five to seven pairs of leaflets, so called from the compara 
tive worthlessness of its fruit ; which is very thick-shelled, 
and generally is left on the ground for the swine, squirrels, 
etc., to devour. It is easily distinguished in winter by the 
smaller size of its brown shoots, and its small oval buds. 
Its wood is considered the toughest and strongest of any 
of the trees of this section. The thick Shellbark hickory 

* In some parts, pleasant social parties which meet at stated times during 
the winter season, are called Kisky-toms, from the regular appearance of tliCFS 
nuts among the refreshinents of the evening. 

t N. A. Sylva, i. 168. 



198 LANDSCAPE GARDEIvAng. 

(C. laciniosa) resembles much in size and appearance the 
common Shellbark ; but the nuts are double the size, the 
shell much t^'cker and yellowish, while that of the latter 
is white. It is but little known e^ccept west of the 
Alleghanies. The Mockernut hickory (C. tomentosa) is 
so called from the deceptive appearance of the nuts, 
which are generally of large size, but contain only a very 
small kernel. The leaves are composed of but four pairs 
of sessile leaflets, with an odd one at the end. The trunk 
of the old trees is very rugged, and the wood is one of the 
best for fuel. 

The Bitternut hickory (C amara), sometimes called the 
White hickory, grows 60 feet high in New Jersey. The 
husk which covers the nut of this species, has four winged 
appendages on its upper half, and never hardens like the 
other sorts, but becomes soft and decays. The shell is 
thin, but the kernel is so bitter that even the squirrels 
refuse to eat it. The Water Bitternut (C aquatica) is a 
very inferior sort, growing in the swamps and rice fields 
of the southern states. The leaflets are serrated, and 
resemble in shape the leaves of the peach tree. Both the 
fruit and timber are much inferior to those of all the other 
hickories. 



The Mountain Ash Tree. Pyrus* 
Nau. Ord. Rosaceae. Lin. Sijst. Icosandria, Di-Pentagyma. 

The European Mountain ash {Pyrus aucujjaria) is an 
elegant tree of the medium size, with an erect stem, 

* Sorbus of the old Botanists. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 199 

smooth bark, and round head. The leaves are pinnated. 
four or five inches in length, and slightly resemble tllo:^^: 
of the ash. The snow-white flowers are produced in large 
flat clusters, in the month of May, which are thickly 
scattered over the outer surface of the tree, and give it s 
lively appearance. These are succeeded by numerouf 
bunches of berries, which in autumn turn to a brilliant 
scarlet, and are then highly ornamental. For the sake of 
these berries, this tree is a great favorite with birds ; and 
in Germany it is called the Vogel Beerhaum, i. e. bird's 
berry tree, and is much used by bird catchers to bait their 
springs with. 

Twenty-five feet is about the average height of the 
Mountain ash in this country. Abroad it grows more 
vigorously ; and in Scotland, where it is best known by the 
name of the Roan or Rowan tree, it sometimes reaches the 
altitude of 35 or 40 feet. The lower classes throughout 
the whole of Britain, for a long time attributed to its 
branches the power of being a sovereign charm against 
witches ; and Sir Thomas Lauder informs us that this 
superstition is still in existence in many parts of the High- 
lands, as well as in Wales. It is probable that tJiis tree 
was a gro.at favorite with the Druids ; for it is often seen 
growing near their ancient mystical circles of stones. The 
'dairymaid, iu many parts of England, stiU preserves the old 
custom of driving her cows to pasture with a switch of the 
roan tree, which she believes has the power to shield them 
from all evil spells.* "Evelyn mentions that it is cus- 
tomary in Wales to plant this tree in churchyards ; and 
Miss Kent in her Sylvan Sketches, makes the following 
remarks : — ' In former times this tree was supposed to be 

• * Lightfoot, Flora Scotica. 



200 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

possessed of the property of driving away witches and evi] 
spirits ; and this property is alluded to in one of the stanzas 
of a very ancient song, called the Laidley Worm of Spin- 
dlcton's TIeughs. 

' Their spells were vain ; the boys retum'd 
To the Queen in sorrowful mood, 
Crying that " witches have no power 
Where there is rowan-tree wood V . 

" The last line of this stanza leads to the true reading of a 
stanza in Shakspeare's tragedy of Macbeth. The sailor's 
wife, on the witch's requesting some chestnuts, hastil} 
answers, 'A rown-tree, witch!' — but many of the editions 
have it, ' aroint thee, witch !' which is nonsense, and evi- 
dently a corruption."* 

The European Mountain ash is quite a favorite with 
cultivators here, and deservedly so. Its foliage is extremely 
neat, its blossoms pretty, and its blazing red berries in 
autumn communicate a cheerfulness to the season, and 
harmonize happily with the gay tints of our native forest 
trees. It is remarkably well calculated for small planta- 
tions or collections, as it grows in almost any soil or situa- 
tion, takes but little room, and is always interesting. " In 
the Scottish Highlands," says Gilpin, " on some rocky 
mountain covered with dark pines and waving birch, which 
cast a solemn gloom on the lake below, a few Mountain 
ashes joining in a clump and mixing with them, have a fine 
effect. In summer the light green tint of their foliage, and 
in autumn the glowing berries which hang clustering upon 
them, contrast beautifully with the deeper green of the 
pines : and if they are happily blended, and not in too large 
a proportion, they add some of the most picturesque furni- 

* Arboretum et Fn ticetum, p. 918. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 201 

ture \^■ith which the sides of those rugged mountains are 
invested." We have seen the Mountain ash, here, display- 
ing itself in great beauty, mingled with a group of hemlocks 
from among the deep green foliage of which, the coral 
berries of the former seemed to shoot out; their color 
heightened by the dark back ground of evergreen 
boughs. 

Tlie American Mountain ash (Pyrus Americana) is a 
native of the mountains along the banks of the Hudson, and 
other cold and elevated situations in the north of the United 
States : on the Catskill we have seen some handsome speci- 
mens near the Mountain House ; but generally it does not 
grow in so comely a shape, or form so handsome a tree 
as the foreign sort. In the general appearance of the leaves 
and blossoms, however, it so nearly resembles the European 
as to be thought merely a variety by some botanists. The 
chief difference between them appears to be in the color 
of the fruit, which on our native tree is copper colored or 
dull purplish red. It may probably assume a handsome 
shape when cultivated. 

The Sorb or Service tree {PyriLS Sorhus) is an interest- 
ing species of Pyrus, a native of Europe, which is sometimes 
seen in our gardens, and deserves a place for its handsome 
foliage and its clusters of fruit ; which somewhat resemble 
those of the Mountain ash, and are often eaten when in a 
5tate of incipient decay. The leaves are coarser than those 
of the Mountain ash, and the tree is larger, often attaining 
the height of 50 or GO feet in its native soil. 

The White Beam {Pyrus Aj-ia) is another foreign species, 
also bearing bunches of handsome scarlet berries, and clus- 
lers of white flowers. The leaves, however, are not pin- 
nated, but simply serrated on the margin. It grows 30 leet 



202 LANDSCAPE GARDENING, 

ligh, and as the foliage is dark gi'een on the upper side, and 
downy white beneath, it presents an effect greatly resem- 
bling that of the Silver poplar in a slight breeze. Abroad, 
the timber is considered valuable ; but here it is cliiefly 
planted to produce a pleasing variety among other trees, by 
its peculiar foliage, and scarlet autumnal fruit. 

All the foregoing trees grow naturally in the highest, 
most exposed, and often almost barren situations. When, 
however, a rapid growth is desired, they should be planted 
in a more moist and genial soil. They are easily propagated 
from the seed, and son:se of the sorts may be grafted on the 
pear or hawthorn. The seeds, in all cases, should be sown 
in autumn. 



The Ailantus Tree. Ailantus. 
Nat. Ord. Xanthoxylacece. Lin. Syst. Polygamia, Moncecia. 

Ailanto is the name of this tree in the Moluccas, and is 
said to signify Tree of Heaven ; an appellation probably 
bestowed on account of the rapidity of its growth, and the 
great height which it reaches in the East Indies, its native 
country. When quite young it is not unlike a sumac in 
appearance ; but the extreme rapidity of its growth and the 
great size of its pinnated leaves, four or five feet long, soon 
distinguish it from that shrub. During the first half dozen 
years it outstrips almost any other deciduous tree in vigor 
of growth, and we have measured leading stems which had 
grown twelve or fifteen feet in a single season. In four or 
five years, therefore, it forms quite a bulky head, but after 
that period it advances more slowly, and in 20 years would 
probably be overtopped by the poplar, the plane, or any 
other fast growing tree. There are, as yet, no specimens 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 203 

in this country more than 70 feet high ; but the trunk shoots 
up in a fine column, and the head is massy and irregular in 
outline. In this country it is planted purely for ornament, 
but we learn that in Europe its wood has been applied to 
cabinet work ; for which, from its close grain and bi-ight 
satin-like lustre, it is well adapted.* The male and female 
flowers are borne on separate trees, and both sexes are now 
common, especially in New York. The male forms the 
finer ornamental tree, the female being rather low, and 
spreading in its head. 

In New York and Philadelphia, the Ailantus is more 
generally known by the name of the Celestial tree, and is 
much planted in the streets and public squares. For such 
situations it is admirably adapted, as it will insinuate its 
strong roots into the most meagre and barren soil, where 
few other trees will grow, and soon produce an abundance 
of foliage and fine shade. It appears also to be perfectly 
free from insects ; and the leaves, instead of dropping 
slowly, and for a long time, fall off almost immediately 
when frost commences. 

The Ailantus is a picturesque tree, well adapted to 
produce a good effect on the lawn, either singly or grouped ; 
as its fine long foliage catches the light well, and contrasts 
strikingly with that of the round-leaved trees. It has a 
troublesome habit of producing suckers, however, which 
must exclude it from every place but a heavy sward, where 
the surface of the ground is never stirred by cultivation. 

The branches of this tree are entirely destitute of tho 
small spray so common on most forest trees, and have a 
singularly naked look in winter, well calculated to fix the 
attention of the spectator at that dreary season. 

• Annales de la Societe d'Horticulture. 



204 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

The largest Ailantus trees in America are growing 
in Rhode Island, where it was introduced from China, 
under the name of the Tillou tree. It has since been 
rapidly propagated by suckers, and is now one of the 
commonest ornamental trees sold in the nurseries. The 
finest trees, however, are those raised from seed.* 



The Kentucky Coffee Tree. Gymnocladus. 

Nat. Ord. Leguniinosae. Lin. Sijsi. Dicecia, Decandria. 

This unique tree is found in the western part of the 
State of New York, and as far north as Montreal, in 
Canada. But it is seen in the greatest perfection, in the 
fertile bottoms of Kentucky and Tennessee. Sixty feet is 
the usual height of the Coffee tree in those soils ; and 
judging from specimens growing under our inspection, it 
will scarcely fall short of that altitude, in well cultivated 
situations, anywhere in the middle states. 

When in full foliage, this is a very beautiful tree. The 
whole leaf, doubly compound and composed of a great, 
number of bluish-green leaflets, is generally three feet long, 
and of two-thirds that width on thrifty trees ; and the 
whole foliage hangs in a well-rounded mass, that would 
ook almost too heavy, were it not lightened in effect by 



* We tliiiik public opinion has very much changed about this tree, since the 
early editions of lliis work. Being tlien but newly introduced, and having (to 
Americans) the very great merit of grow.ing with remarkable rapidity, it was 
very much sought after, and is now, we tliink, as universally neglected. The 
exceedingly disagreeable odor of its flowers and young wood, and the trouble- 
some habit of suckering, have quite thrown it into disfiivor, especially since its 
place can be now s^upplied by a much more effective tree, from the same coun- 
try (Japan): the Paulownia^grow'mg with equal rapidity, and having an early 
Spring bloom, of great beauty and sweetness of perfume. — H. W. S. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 205 

the loose, tufted appearance of each individual leaf. The 
flowers, which are white, are borne in loose spikes, in 
the beginning of summer ; and are succeeded by ample 
brown pods, flat and somewhat curved, which contain six 
or seven large grey seeds, imbedded in a s.weet pulpy 
substance. As the genus is dioecious, it is necessary that 
both sexes of this tree should be growing near each other, 
in order to produce seed. 

When Kentucky was first settled by the adventurous 
pioneers from the Atlantic States, who commenced their 
career in the primeval wilderness, almost without the 
necessaries of life, except as produced by them from the 
fertile soil, they fancied that they had discovered a 
substitute for coffee in the seeds of this tree, and 
accordingly the name of Coffee tree was bestowed upon 
it : but when a communication was established with the 
seaports, they gladly relinquished their Kentucky beverage 
for the more grateful flavor of the Indian plant ; and no 
use is at present made of it in that manner. It has, 
however, a fine, compact wood, highly useful in building oi 
cabinet-work. 

The Kentucky Coffee tree is well entitled to a place in 
every collection. In summer, its charming foliage and 
agreeable flowers render it a highly beautiful lawn tree ; 
and in winter, it is certainly one of the most novel tree?, 
in appearance, in our whole native sylva. Like the 
Ailantus, it is entirely destitute of small spray, but it also 
adds to this the additional singularity of thick, blunt, 
terminal branches, without any perceptible buds. Alto- 
gether it more resembles a dry, dead, and withered 
combination of sticks, than a living and thrifty tree. 
Although this would be highly monotonous and displeasing, 
were it Ihe common appearance of our deciduous trees 



20G 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



ill winter ; yet, as it is not so, but a rare and very unique 
exception to the usual beautiful diversity of spray and 
ramification, it is highly interesting to place such a tree as 
the present in the neighborhood of other full-sprayed 
species, where the curiosity which it excites will add 
greatly to its value as an interesting object at that period 
of the year.* 






At^T?"^ 





[Fig. 83. The Kentucky Coffee Tree] 

The seeds vegetate freely, and the tree is usually 
propagated in that manner. It prefers a rich, strong soil, 
like most trees of the western states. 



* There are some very fi.ie specimens upon the lawn at Dr. Hosack's seal 
[lyde Park, N. Y., which have fruited for a number of years. See Fig. 33. 



DECIDUOUf ORNAMENTAL TREES. 207 

The Willow Tree. Salix, 

Nat. Ord. Salicaceae. Lin. Sijst. Dicecia, Diandria. 

A very large genus, comprising plants of almost every 
stature, from minute shrubs of three or four inches in 
height, to lofty and wide-spreading trees of fifty or sixty 
feet.* They are generally remarkable for their narrow 
leaves, and slendei', round, and flexible branches. 

There are few of these willows which are adapted to 
add to the beauty of artificial scenery ; but among them 
are three or four trees, which, from their peculiar 
character, deserve especial notice. These are the Weep- 
ing, or Babylonian willow {Salix Babylonica), the White, 
or Huntington willow {S. alba), the Golden willow 
{S. vitellina), the Russell willow {S. Russelliana), and the 
profuse Flowering willow {S. caprea). 

The above are all foreign sorts, which, however (except 
the last), have long ago been introduced, and are now 
quite common in the United States. All of them except 
the first, have an upright or wavy, spreading growth, and 
form lofty trees, considerably valued abroad for their 
timber. The White willow and the Russell willow are 
very rapid in their growth, and have a pleasing light green 
foliage. The Golden willow is remarkable for its bright 
yellow bark, which renders it quite ornamental, even in 
winter. It is a middle sized tree, and is often seen 
growing along the road-sides in the eastern and middle 
states. Salix caprea is deserving a place in collections 
for the beauty of its abundant blossoms at an early and 
cheerless period in the spring. 

* Dr. Barratt of Middletown, Conn., who has paid great attention to the 
willow, enumerates 100 species, as growing in North America, eithei 
indipenous or introduced. 



208 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

The chief, and indeed almost the only value of these 
willows in Landscape Gardening, is to embellish low 
grounds, streams of water, or margins of lakes. When 
mingled with other trees, they often harmonize so badly 
from their extremely different habits, foliage, and col-or, 
that unless very sparingly introduced, they cannot fail to 
have a bad effect. On the banks of streams, however, 
they are extremely appropriate, hanging their slender 
branches over the liquid element, and drawing genial 
nourishment from the moistened soil. 

" Le saule incline sur la rive penchante, 
Balan^ant mollement sa tete blanchissante." 

In the middle distance of a scene, also, where a stream 
winds partially hidden, or which might otherwise wholly 
escape the eye, these trees, if planted along its course, 
connected as they are in our minds with watery soils, will 
not fail to direct the attention and convey forcibly the 
impression of a brook or river, winding its way beneath 
their shade. 

In landscapes, the Weeping willow is peculiarly express- 
ive of grace and softness. Although a highly beautiful 
tree, great care must be used in its introduction, to 
preserve the harmony and propriety of the whole ; as 
nothing could be more strikingly inappropriate than to 
■ntermix it frequently with trees expressive of dignity or 
majesty, as the oak, etc. ; where the violent contrast 
''■xhibited in the near proximity of the two opposite forms, 
could only produce discord. The favorite place, where 
it is most true to nature and itself, is near water, 
where 

" it dips 

Its pendent boughs, stooping as if to drink." Cowpkr. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 209 

There, when properly introduced, not in too great abun- 
dance, hanging over some rustic bridge, or cool jutting 
spring, and supported, and brought into harmony with 
surrounding vegetation by such other graceful and light- 
sprayed trees as the Birch and Weeping elm, its effect is 
often surpassingly beautiful and appropriate. There it is 
one 01 the first in the vernal season to burst its buds, and 
mirror its soft green foliage in the flood beneath, and one 
of the last in autumn to yield its leafy vesture to the 
chilling frosts, or fitful gusts of approaching winter. 

We consider the Weeping willow ill calculated for a 
place near a mansion which has any claims to size, mag- 
nificence, or architectural beauty ; as it does not in any 
way contribute by its form or outline to add to or 
strengthen such characteristics in a building. The only 
place where it can be happily situated in this way, is in 
the case of very humble or inconspicuous cottages, which 
we have seen much ornamented by being completely 
hidden, as it were, beneath the soft veil of its streaming 
foliage. 

There is a very singular variety of the Weeping willow 
cultivated in our gardens, under the name of the Ringlet 
willow ; which is so remarkable in the form of its foliage. 
and so different from all other trees, that it is well worth a 
place as a curiosity. Each leaf is curled round like a ring 
or hoop, and the appearance of a branch in full foliage is 
not unlike a thinly curled ringlet ; whence its commor 
name. It forms a neat, middle-sized tree, with drooping 
branches, though hardly so pendent as the Weeping 
willow. 

The uses of the willow are extremely numerous. Abroad 

it is extensively cultivated in coppices, for timber and fuel, 

U 



210 LANDSCAPE CARDENING. 

for hoops, lies, etc. ; and we are informed, that in the north 
ern parts of Europe, and throughout the Russian Empire, 
the twigs are employed in manufacturing domestic uten- 
sils, harness, cables, and even for the houses of the pea- 
santry themselves. From the fibres of the bark, it is said 
that a durable cloth is woven by the Tartars ; and the 
bark is used for tanning in various, parts of the eastern 
continent. 

But by far the most extensive use to which this plant is 
applied, is in the manufacture of baskets. From the 
eai-liest periods it has been devoted to this purpose, and 
large plantations, or osier-fields, as they are called, are 
devoted to the culture of particular kinds for this purpose, 
both in Europe and America. The common Basket.wil]ow, 
an European species (^S. virninalis), is the sort usually 
grown for this purpose, but several others are also employed. 
For the culture of the basket willows, a deep, moist, though 
not inundated soil is necessary ; such as is generally found 
on the margins of small streams, or low lands. " Ropes 
and baskets made from willow twigs, were probably among 
the very earliest manufactures, in countries where these 
trees abound. The Romans used the twisfs for bindinjr 
their vines, and tying their reeds in bundles, and made all 
sorts of baskets of them. A crop of willows w^as consi- 
dered so valuable in the time of Cato, that he ranks the 
Salictum, or willow field, next in value to the vineyard 
and the garden. (Art. Salix. Arb. Brit) 

Among us, the European Basket willow is extensively 
cultivated, and very large plantations are to be seen in the 
low grounds of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The wood 
of some of the tree willows, and particularly that of the 
Yellow willow, and the Shining willow {S. lucida), ia 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 211 

greatly used in making charcoal for the manufacture of 
gunpowder. 

It is almost- unnecessary to say that all the willows grow 
readily from slips or truncheons planted in the ground. So 
tenacious of life are they, that examples are known where 
small trees have been taken up and completely inverted, by 
planting the branches and leaving the roots exposed, which 
have nevertheless thrown out new roots from the former 
tops, and the roots becoming branches, the tree grew again 
with its ordinary vigor. 



The Sassafras Tree. Laurus. 

Nat. Ord. Lauraceae. Lin. Syst. Enneandria, Monogynia. 

The Sassafras is a neat tree of the middle size, belonging 
to the same family as the European laurel or Sweet bay ; 
it is found, more or less plentifully, through the whole 
territory of the United States. In favorable soils, along 
the banks of the Hudson, it often grows to 40 or 50 feet in 
height ; but in the woods it seldom reaches that altitude. 
The flowers are yellow, and appear in small clusters in 
May, and the fruit is a small, deep blue berry, seated on a 
red footstalk or cup. The bark of the wood and roots has 
an agreeable smell and taste, and is a favorite ingredient, 
with the branches of the spruce, in the small beer made by 
the country people. Medicinally, it is considered anti- 
scorbutic and sudorific ; and is thought efficacious in 
purifying the blood. It was formerly in great repute with 
practitioners abroad, and large quantities of the bark of 
the roots were shipped to England ; but the demand has 
of late greatlv decreased. 



212 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

The Sassafras is a very agreeable tree to the eye, decked 
as it is with its glossy, deep green, oval, or three-lobed 
leaves. When fully grown, it is also quite picturesque for 
a tree of so moderate a size ; as its branches generally have 
an irregular, somewhat twisted look, and the head is 
partially flattened, and considerably varied in outline 
After ten years of age, this tree always looks older than it 
really is, from its rough, deeply cracked, grey bark, and 
rather crooked stem. It often appears extremely well on 
the borders of a plantation, and mixes well with almost any 
ot the heavier deciduous trees. As it is by no means so 
common a tree as many of those already noticed, it is gene- 
rally the more valued, and may frequently be seen growing 
along the edges of cultivated fields and pastures, appearing 
to thrive well in any good mellow soil. 



The Catalpa Tree. Catalpa. 

Nat. Ord. Bignoniacene. Lin. Sijst. Diandria, Monogynia. 

A native of nearly all the states south and west of Vir- 
ginia, this tree has become naturalized also throughout the 
middle and eastern sections of the Union, where it is 
generally planted for ornament. 

In Carolina it is called the Catawba tree, after the 
Catawba Indians, a tribe that formerly inhabited that 
country ; and it is probable that the softer epithet now 
generally bestowed upon it in the north, is only a corrup- 
tion of that original name. 

The leaves of this tree are very large, often measuring 
six or seven inches broad ; they are heart-shaped in form, 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. . 213 

smooth, and pale green on the upper side, slightly downy 
beneath. The blossoms are extremely beautiful, hanging, 
like those of the Horse-chestnut, in massy clusters beyond 
the outer surface of the foliage. The color is a pure and 
delicate white, and the inner part of the corolla is 
delicately sprinkled over with violet, or reddish and yellow 
spots ; indeed, the individual beauty of the flowers is so 
great when viewed closely, that one almost regrets that 
they should be elevated on the branches of a large forest 
tree. When these fall, they are succeeded by bean-like 
capsules or seed-vessels, which grow ten or twelve inches 
long, become brown, and hang pendent upon the branches 
during the greater part of the winter. 

The Catalpa never, or rarely, takes a symmetrical form 
when growing up ; but generally forms a wide-spreading 
head, forty or fifty feet in diameter. Its large and abundant 
foliage affords a copious shade, and its growth is quite 
rapid, soon forming a large and bulky tree. In ornamental 
plantations it is much valued on account of its superb and 
showy flowers, and is therefore deserving a place in every 
lawn. It is generally seen to best advantage when 
standing alone, but it may also be mingled with other large 
round-leaved trees, as the basswood, etc., when it produces 
a very pleasing effect. The branches are rather brittle, 
like those of the locust, and are therefore somewhat liable 
to be broken by the wind. Accustomed to a warmer 
climate, the leaves expand late in the spring, and wither 
hastily when frost approaches ; but the soft tint of their 
luxuriant vegetation is very grateful to the eye, and it 
appears to be uninjured by the hottest rays of summer. 
North of this place the Catalpa is rather too tender for 
exposed situations. 



214 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

We have seen the Catalpa employed to great advantage 
m fixing and holding up the loose soil of river banks, 
where, if planted, it will soon insinuate its strong roots, 
and retain the soil firmly. In Ohio, experiments have 
been made with the timber for the posts used in fencing ; 
and it is stated on good authority that it is but little 
inferior, when well seasoned, to that of the locust in 
durability. 

Michaux mentions that he has been assured that the 
honey collected from the flowers is poisonous ; but this we 
are inclined to doubt ; or at least we have witnessed no ill 
effects from planting it in abundance in the middle States, 
in those neighborhoods where bees are kept in considerable 
numbers. 

The Catalpa is very easily propagated from seeds sown 
in any light soil ; and the growth of the young plants ia 
extremely rapid. C. syringafolia is the only species.* 



The Persimon Tree. Diospyros. 

Nat. Ord. Ebenaceae. Lin. Syst. Polygamia, DicEcia. 

The Highlands of the Hudson, and about the same 
latitude on the Connecticut, may be considered the 
northern limits of this small tree. It generally forms a 
spreading loose head, of some twenty or thirty feet high, 
in good soils in the middle states ; but we have seen a 

* This was quite true when the above chapter was written. Since when, we 
have C, lungei, C. Icemferi, and C. Mmmalayensis — the first two being 
dwarfs. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 215 

specimen of nearly eighty feet, in the old Bartrain Garden 
at Philadelphia ; and fifty feet is probably the average 
growth on deep fertile lands in the southern states. 

The Persimon bears a small, round, dull red fruit, about 
an inch in diameter, containing six or seven stones ; it is 
insufferably austere and bitter, until the autumnal frosts have 
mellowed it and lessened its harshness, when it becomes 
quite palatable. Considerable quantities of the fruit are 
annually brought into New York market and its vicinity, 
from New Jersey, and sold : the produce is very abundant, 
a single tree often yielding several bushels. A strong 
brandy has been distdled from them ; and in the south they 
are said to enter into the composition of the country beer. 
For the latter purpose they are pounded up with bran, dried, 
and kept for use till wanted. 

The foliage of the Persimon is handsome ; the leaves 
being four or five inches long, simple, oblong, dark green, 
and glossy, like those of the orange. The blossoms are 
green and inconspicuous. 

The Persimon has no importance as a tree to recommend 
it ; but it may be admitted in all good collections for its 
pleasing shining foliage, and the variety which its singular 
fruit adds to the productions of a complete country resi- 
dence. The common sort (D. Virginiana) grows readily 
from the seed. 

There is an European Species {Dyosporus Lotus), with 
yellow fruit about the size of a cherry, rather less palatable 
than our native kind. The specimens of this tree, which 
we have imported, appear too tender to bear our winters 
unprotected, so that it will probably not prove hardy in the 
northern states. 



21G LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

The Peperidge Tree. Ni/ssa. 

Nat. Old. Santalacete. Lin. Syst. Polyganua, Dicccia. 

The Peperidge, Tupelo, or sour gum tree, as it is callea 
In various parts of the Union, grows to a moderate size, 
and is generally found in moist situations, though we have 
seen it in New York State, thriving very well in dry upland 
soils. The diameter of the trunk is seldom more than 
eighteen inches, and the general height is about forty or 
fifty feet. The flowers are scarcely perceptible, but the 
fruit borne in pairs, is about the size of a pea, deep blue, 
and ripens in October. 

The leaves are oval, smooth, and have a beautiful gloss 
on their upper surface. The branches diverge from the 
main trunk almost horizontally, and sometimes even bend 
downwards like those of some of the Pine family, which 
gives the tree a very marked and picturesque character. 

The Peperidge when of moderate size is not difficult to 
transplant, and we consider it a very fine tree, both on 
account of its beautiful, dark green, and lustrous foliage in 
summer, and the brilliant fiery color which it takes when 
the frost touches it in autumn. In this respect it is fully 
equal in point of beauty to that of the Liquidambar or Sweet 
gum, and the maples which we have already described ; 
and so fine a feature do we consider this autumnal beauty 
of foliage that we would by all means advise the introduc- 
tion of such trees as the Peperidge into the landscape for 
that reason alone, were it not also valuable for its peculiar 
form and polished leaves in summer. 

Besides the Peperidge there are three other NyssaS; 
natives of this continent, viz. the Black gum (N. Sylvatica)^ 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 217 

a tree of greater dimensions, and larger, more elongated 
leaves, whose northern boundary is the neighborhood of 
Philadelphia ; the Large Tupelo (N. grandidentata), a 
tree of the largest size, with large, coarsely toothed 
foliage, and a large blue fruit, three-fourths of an inch 
long, which is sometimes called the wild olive ; and the 
sour Tupelo {N. capitata), with long, smooth, laurel-like 
leaves, and light red, oval fruit, called the Wild Lime, 
from its abounding in a strong acid, resembling that of 
the latter fruit. Both the latter trees are natives of the 
southern states, and are little known north of Philadelphia. 

The wood of all the foregoing trees is remarkable for 
the peculiar arrangement of its fibres ; which, instead of 
running directly through the stem in parallel lines, are 
curiously twisted and interwoven together. Owing to 
this circumstance it is extremely difficult to split, and is 
therefore often used in the manufacture of wooden bowls, 
trays, etc. That of the Peperidge is also preferred for 
the same reason, and for its toughness, by the wheel- 
wrights, in the construction of the naves of Vv^heels, and 
for other similar purposes. 

Michaux remarks that he is unable to give any reason 
why the names of Sour gum. Black gum, etc., have been 
bestowed upon these trees, as they spontaneously exude no 
sap or fluid which could give rise to such an appellation. 
We suspect that the term has arisen from a comparison 
of the autumnal tints of these trees belonging to the genus 
Nyssa, with those of the Sweet gum or Liquidambar, 
which, at a short distance, they so much resemble in the 
riarly autuir.n. 



218 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

The Thokn Tree. Crategus. 

Nat. Ord. Rosacea3. Lin. Syst. Icosandria, Di-pentagynia. 

A tree of the smallest size ; but though many of the 
sorts attain only the stature of ordinary shrubs, yet some 
of our native species, as well as the English Hawthorn 
(C. oxycantha), when standing alone, will form neat, 
spreading- topped trees, of twenty or thirty feet in height. 

Although the thorn is not generally viewed among us 
as a plant at all conducive to the beauty of scenery, yet 
we are induced to mention it here, and to enforce its 
claims in that point of view, as they appear to us highly 
entitled to consideration. First, the foliage — deep green, 
shining, and often beautifully cut and diversified in form 
— is prettily tufted and arranged upon the branches ; 
secondly, the snowy blossoms — often produced in such 
quantities as to completely whiten the whole head of the 
tree, and which in many sorts have a delightful perfume 
— present a charming appearance in the early part of the 
season ;■ and thirdly, the ruddy crimson or purple haws or 
fruit, which give the whole plant a rich and glowing 
appearance in and among our fine forests, open glades, or 
wild thickets, in autumn. 

The most ornamental and the strongest growing 
indigenous kinds are the Scarlet Thorn tree (C coccinea), 
and its varieties, the Washington Thorn (C populifolia), 
and the Cockspur Thorn (C crus-galli) ; all of which, in 
good soil, will grow to the height of twenty or thirty feet, 
and can readily be transplanted from their native sites. 

The English Hawthorn is not only a beautiful small 
tree, but it is connected in our minds with all the elegant, 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TllEES. 219 

poetic, and legendary associations which belong to it in 
England ; for scarcely any tree is richer in such than 
this. With the floral games of May, this plant, from its 
blooming at that period, and being the favorite of the 
season, has become so identified, that the blossoms are 
known in many parts of Britain chiefly by that name. 
Among the ancient Greeks and Romans, they were dedi- 
cated to Flora, whose festival began on the first of that 
month ; and in the olden times of merry England, the 
May-pole, its top decked with the gayest garlands of these 
blossoms, was raised amid the shouts of the young and 
old assembled to celebrate this happy rustic festival. 
Chaucer alludes to the custom., and describes the hawthorn 
thus: 

Marke the faire blooming of the Hawthorne tree, 
Which finely cloathed in a robe of white. 
Fills full the wanton eye with May's delight. 

Court of Love. 

And Herriclt has left us the following lines to " Corrina 
going a Maying :" 

" Come, my Corrina, come ; and coming marke 
How eche field turns a street, eche street a park 
Made green, and trimmed with trees ; see how 
Devotion gives eche house a bough 
Or branch ; eche porch, eche doore ere this, 
An arke, a tabernacle is, 
Made up of Hawthorne, neatly interwove. 
As if here were those cooler shades of love." 

The following lines descriptive of the English species, 
we extract from the " Romance of Nature." 

" Come let us rest this hawthorn tree beneath. 
And breathe its luscious fragrance as it flies, 



220 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

And watch the tiny petals as they fall. 
Circling and winnowing down our sylvan hall." 

The berries, or haivs, as they are called, have a very rich 
and coral-like look when the tree, standing alone, is com- 
pletely covered with them in October. There are some 
elegant varieties of this species, which highly deserve cul- 
tivation for the beauty of their flowers and foliage. Among 
them we may particularly notice the Double White, with 
beautiful blossoms like small white roses ; the Pink and the 
Scarlet flowering, both single and double, and the Varie- 
gated-leaved hawthorn, all elegant trees ; as well as the 
Weeping hawthorn, a rarer variety, with pendulous 
branches. 

The Hawthorn is most agreeable to the eye in compo- 
sition when it forms the undergrowth or thicket, peeping 
out in all its green freshness, gay blossoms, or bright fruit, 
from beneath and between the groups and masses of trees ; 
where, mingled with the hazel, etc., it gives a pleasing 
intricacy to the whole mass of foliage. But the different 
species display themselves to most advantage, and grow 
also to a finer size, when planted singly, or two or three 
together, along the walks leading through the different parts 
of the pleasure-ground or shrubbery. 



The Magnolia Tree. Magnolia. 
Nat. Ord. Magnoliaceac. Lin. Syst. Polyandria, Polygynia. 

The North American trees composing the genus Magnolia 
are certainly among the most splendid productions of the 
forests in any temperate climate ; and when we consider 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 221 

the size and fragrance of their blossoms, or the beauty of 
their large and noble foliage, we may be allowed to doubt 
whether there is a more magnificent and showy genus of 
deciduous trees in the world. With the exception of a few 
shrubs or smaller trees, natives of China and the mountains 
of Central Asia, it belongs exclusively to this continent, as 
no individuals of this order are indigenous to Europe or 
Africa. The American species attracted the attention of 
the first botanists who came over to examine the riches of 
our native flora, and were transplanted to the gardens 
of England and France more than a hundred years ago, 
where they are still valued as the finest hardy trees of that 
hemisphere. 

The Large Evergreen Magnolia {31. grandijlora), or 
Big Laurel, as it is sometimes called, is peculiarly indige- 
nous to that portion of our country south of North Carolina, 
where its stately trunk, often seventy feet in height, and 
superb pyramid of deep green foliage, render it one of the 
loveliest and most majestic of trees. The leaves, which 
are evergreen, and somewhat resemble those of the laurel 
in form, are generally six or eight inches in length, thick in 
texture and brilliantly polished on the upper surface. The 
highly fragrant flowers are composed of about six petals, 
opening in a wide cup-like form, of the most snowy white- 
ness of color. Scattered among the rich foliage, their 
effect is exquisitely beautiful. The seeds are borne in an 
oval, cone-like carpel or seed-vessel, composed of a number 
of cells which split longitudinally, when the stony seed, 
covered with a bright red pulp, drops out. There are 
several varieties, which have been raised from the seed of 
this species abroad ; the most beautiful is the Exmouth 
IVIagnolia, with fine foliage, rusty beneath ; it produces its 



222 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

flowers much earlier and more abundantly than the original 
sort. 

We regret that this tree is too tender to bear the open 
air north of Philadelphia, as it is one of the choicest 
evergreens. At the nurseries of the Messrs. Landreth, 
and at the Bartram Botanic Garden of Col. Carr, near that 
city, some good specimens of this Magnolia and its 
varieties are growing thriftily ; but in the State of New 
York, and at the east, it can only be considered a green- 
house plant. 

The Cucumber Magnolia (C. acuminata), (so called 
from the appearance of the young fruit, which is not unlike 
a green cucumber) takes the same place in the north, in 
point of majesty and elevation, that the Big Laurel 
occupies in the south. Its northern limit is Lake Erie ; 
and it abounds along the whole range of the Alleghanies to 
the southward, in rich mountain acclivities, and moist 
sheltered valleys. There it often measures three or four 
feet in diameter, and eighty in height. The leaves, which 
are deciduous, like those of all the Magnolias except the M. 
grandijlora, are also about six inches long and four broad, 
acuminate at the point, of a bluish green on the upper 
surface. The flowers are six inches in diameter, of a pale 
yellow, much like those of the Tulip tree, and slightly 
fragrant. The fruit is about three inches long, and 
cylindrical in shape. Most of the inhabitants of the 
country bordering on the Alleghanies, says Michaux, 
gather these cones about midsummer, when they are half 
ripe, and steep them in whiskey ; the liquor produced, they 
take as aii antidote against the fevers prevalent in those 
districts 

The Umbrella Magnolia {M. tripetala), though found 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 223 

sometimes in the northwest of New York, is rare there 
and abounds most in the south and west. It is a smaller 
tree than the preceding kinds, rarely growing more than 
thirty feet high. The leaves on the terminal shoots are 
disposed three or four in a tuft, which has given rise to the 
name of Umbrella tree. They are of fine size, eighteen 
inches or two feet long, and seven or eight broad, oval, 
pointed at both ends ; the flowers are also large, white, 
and numerous ; and the conical fruit-vessel containing the 
seeds, assumes a beautiful rose-color in autumn. From its 
fine tufted foliage, and rapid growth, this is one of the 
most desirable species for our pleasure-grounds. 

The Large-leaved Magnolia {M. macro-phyUa) is the 
rarest of the genus in our forests, being only found as yet 
m North Carolina. The. leaves grow to an enormous size 
when the tree is young, often measuring three feet long, 
and nine or ten inches broad. They are oblong, oval, and 
heart-shaped at the base. The flowers are also immense, 
opening of the size of a hat-crown, and difiiising a most 
agreeable odor. The tree attains only a secondary size, 
and is distinguished in winter by the whiteness of its bark, 
compared with the others. It is rather tender north of 
New York. 

The Heart-leaved Magnolia {M. cordata) is a beautiful 
southern species, distinguished by its nearly round, heart- 
shaped foliage, and its yellow flowers about four inches in 
diameter. It blooms in the gardens very young, and very 
abundantly, often producing two crops in a season. 

Magnolia auriculata grows aboi^t forty feet high, and 
is also found near the southern Alleghany range of 
mountains. The leaves are light green, eight or nine 
inches long, widest at the top, and narrower towards the 



224 LANDSCAPE GAEDENING. 

base, where they are rounded into lobes. The flowers are 
not so fine as those of tlw preceding kinds, but still are 
handsome, pule greenish white, and about four inches in 
diameter. 

Besides these, there is a smaller American Magnolia, 
which is the only sort that in the middle or eastern 
sections of the Union grows within 150 miles of the sea- 
shore. This is the Magnolia of the swamps of New 
Jersey and the South (M. glauca), of which so many 
fragrant and beautiful bouquets are gathered in the season 
of its inflorescence, brought to New York and Philadel- 
phia, and exposed for sale in the markets. It is rather a 
large bush, than a tree ; with shining, green, laurel-like 
leaves, four or five inches long, somewhat mealy or 
glaucous beneath. The blossoms, about three inches 
broad, are snowy white, and so fragrant that where they 
abound in the swamps, their perfume is often perceptible 
for the distance of a quarter of a mile. 

The ibreign sorts introduced into our gardens from 
China, are the Chinese purple {M. purpurea), which 
produces an abundance of large delicate purple blossoms 
early in the season ; the Yulan or Chinese White Magno- 
lia (3/. conspicua), a most abundant bloomer, bearing 
beautiful white, fragrant flowers in April, before the leaves 
appear ; and Soulange's Magnolia {M. Soulangiana), a 
hybrid between the two foregoing, with large flowers 
delicately tinted with white and purple. These succeed 
well in sheltered situations, in , our pleasure-grounds, and 
add greatly to their beauty early in the season. Grafted 
on the cucumber tree, they form large and vigorous trees 
of great beauty. 

The Magnolia, in order to thrive well, requires a deep, 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 225 

rich soil ; which in nearly all cases, to secure their 
luxuriance, should be improved by adding thereto some 
leaf mould or decayed vegetable matter from the woods 
When transplanted from the nursery, they should be 
preferred of small or only moderate size, as their succulent 
roots are easily injured, and they recover slowly when 
large. Most of them may be propagated from seed ; but 
they flower sooner, grow more vigorously, and are mucli 
hardier when grafted upon young stocks of the Cucumber 
Magnolia. This we have found to be particularly the 
case with the Chinese species and varieties. 

All these trees are such superbly beautiful objects upon 
a lawn in their rich summer garniture of luxuriant foliage, 
and large odoriferous flowers, that they need no further 
recommendation from us to insure their regard and 
admiration from all persons who have room for their 
culture. If possible, situations somewhat sheltered either 
by buildings or other trees, should be chosen for all the 
species, except the Cucumber Magnolia, which thrives 
well in almost any aspect not directly open to violent 
gales of wind. 



The White-wood, or Tulip Tree. Liriodendron. 

Nat. Ord. Magnoliacese. Lin. Syst. Polyandria, Polygynia. 

The Tulip tree belongs to the same natural order as the 

Magnolias, and is not inferior to most of the latter in all 

that entitles them to rank among our very finest forest 

trees. 

The taller Magnolias, as we have already remarked, do 
15 



226 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

not grow naturally within 100 or 150 miles of the sea. 
coast ; and the Tulip tree may be considered as in some 
measure supplying their place in the middle Atlantic 
states. West of the Connecticut river, and south of the 
sources of the Hudson, this fine tree may be often seen 
reaching in warm and deep alluvial soils 80 or 90 feet in 
height. But in the western states, where indeed the 
growth of forest trees is astonishingly vigorous, this tree 
far exceeds that altitude. The elder Michaux mentions 
several which he saw in Kentucky, that were fifteen and 
sixteen feet in girth ; and his son confirms the measure- 
ment of one, three miles and a half from Louisville, which, 
at five feet from the ground, was found to be twenty-two 
feet and six inches in circumference, with a corresponding 
elevation of 130 feet. 

The foliage is rich and glossy, and has a very peculiar 
form ; being cut off, as it were, at the extremity, and 
slightly notched and divided into two-sided lobes. The 
breadth of the leaves is six or eight inches. The flowers, 
which are shaped like a large tulip, are composed of six 
thick yellow petals, mottled on the inner surface with red 
and green. They are borne singly on the terminal shoots, 
have a pleasant, slight perfume, and are very showy. 
The seed-vessel, which ripens in October, is formed of a 
number of scales surrounding the central axis in the form 
of a cone. It is remarkable that young trees under 30 or 
35 feet high, seldom or never perfect their seeds. 

Whoever has once seen the Tulip tree in a situation 
where the soil was favorable to its free growth, can 
never forget it. With a clean trunk, straight as a 
column, for 40 or 50 feet, surmounted by a fine, ample 
summit of rich green foliage, it is, in our estimation, 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 227 

decidedly the most stately tree in North America. 
When standing alone, and encouraged in its lateral 
growth, it will indeed often produce a lower head, but 
its tendency is to rise, and it only exhibits itself in all 
its stateliness and majesty when, supported on such a 
noble columnar trunk, it towers far above the heads of 
its neighbors of the park or forest. Even when at its 
loftiest elevation, its large specious blossoms, which, 
from their form, one of our poets has likened to the 
chalice ; 

■ Through the verdant maze 

The Tulip tree 
Its golden chalice oft triumphantly di^lays. 

Pickering. 

jut out from amid the tufted canopy in the month of June, 
and glow in richness and beauty. While the tree is less 
than a foot in diameter, the stem is extremely smooth, and 
it has almost always a refined and finished appearance. 
For the lawn or park, we conceive the Tulip tree 
eminently adapted : its tall upright stem, and handsome 
summit, contrasting nobly with the spreading forms of most 
deciduous trees. It should generally stand alone, or near 
the border of a mass of trees, where it may fully display 
itself to the eye, and exhibit all its charms from the root 
to the very summit ; for no tree of the same grandeur and 
magnitude is so truly beautiful and graceful in every 
portion of its trunk and branches. Where there is a taste 
for avenues, the Tulip tree ought by all means to be 
employed, as it makes a most magnificent overarching 
canopy of verdure, supported on trunks almost archi- 
tectural in their symmetry. The leaves also, from their 
bitterness, are but little liable to the attacks of any insect. 



22S LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

This tree was introduced into England about 1608 ; and 
IS now to be found in almost every gentleman's park on ihe 
Continent of Europe, so highly is it esteemed as an 
ornamental tree of the first class. We hope that the fine 
native specimens yet standing, here and there, in farm lands 
along our river banks, may be sacredly preserved from 
the barbarous infliction of the axe, which formerly 
despoiled without mercy so many of the majestic denizens 
of our native forests. 

In the western states, where this tree abounds, it is much 
used in building and carpentry. The timber is light and 
yellow, and the tree is commonly called the Yellow Poplar 
in those districts, from some fancied resemblance in the 
• wood, though it is much heavier and more durable than 
that of the poplar. 

When exposed to the weather, the wood is liable to 
warp, but as it is fine grained, light, and easily worked, it is 
extensively employed for the panels of coaches, doors, 
cabinet-work, and wainscots. The Indians who once 
inhabited these regions, hollowed out the trunks, and made 
their canoes of them. There are two sorts of timber 
known ; viz. the Yellow and the White Poplar, or Tulip 
tree. These, however, it is well known are the same 
s}>ecies (L. tulipifera) ; but the variation is brought about 
by the soil, which if dry, gravelly, and elevated, produces 
the white, and if rich, deep, and rather moist, the yellow 
timber. 

It is rather difficult to transplant the Tulip tree when it 
has attained much size, unless the roots have undergone 
preparation, as will hereafter be mentioned ; but it is easily 
propagated from seed, or obtained from the nurseries, and 
the growth is then strong and rapid. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 229 

I 

The Dogwood Tree. Cornus. 
ISat. Ord. Cornaceae. Lin.Syst. Tetrandria, Monogynia. 

There are a number of small shrubs that belong to this 
genus, but the common Dogwood (Cornus jlorida) is the 
only species which has any claims to rank as a tree. In 
the middle states, where it abounds, as well as in most 
other parts of the Union, the maximum height is thirty- 
five feet, while its ordinary elevation is about twenty feet. 

The Dogwood is quite a picturesque small tree, and owes 
its interest chiefly to the beauty of its numerous blossoms 
and fruit. The leaves are oval, about three inches long, 
dark green above, and paler below. In the beginning of 
May, while the foliage is beginning to expand rapidly, and 
before the tree is in full leaf, the flowers unfold, and 
present a beautiful spectacle, often covering the whole tree 
with their snowy garniture. The principal beauty of 
these consists in the involucrum or calyx, which, instead 
of being green, as is commonly the case, in the Dogwood 
takes a white or pale blue tint. The true flowers may be 
seen collected in little clusters, and are, individually, quite 
small, though surrounded by the involucrum, which 
produces all the effect of a fine white blossom. 

In the early part of the season, the Dogwood is one of 
the gayest ornaments of our native woods. It is seen at 
that time to great advantage in sailing up the Hudson 
river. There, in the abrupt Highlands, which rise boldly 
many hundred feet above the level of the river, patches of 
the Dogwood in full bloom gleam forth in snowy whiteness 
from among the tender green of the surrounding young 
foliage, and the gloomier shades of the dark evergreens, 



230 LANDSCAPE GAROENiNO. 

which clothe with a rich verdure the rocks and precipices 
that overhang the moving flood below. 

The berries which succeed these blossoms become quite 
red and brilliant in autumn ; and, as they are plentifully 
borne in little clusters, they make quite a display. When 
the sharp frosts have lessened their bitterness, they are the 
food of the robin, which, at that late season, eats them 
greedily. 

The foliage in autumn is also highly beautiful, and must 
be considered as contributing to the charms of this tree. 
The color it assumes is a deep lake-red ; and it is at that 
season as easily known at a distance by its fine coloring, 
as the Maple, the Liquidambar, and the Nyssa, of which 
we have already spoken. Taking into consideration all 
these ornamental qualities, and also the fact that it is every 
day becoming scarcer in our native wilds, we think the 
Dogwood tree should fairly come under the protection of 
the picturesque planter, and well deserves a place in the 
pleasure-ground and shrubbery. 

The wood is close-grained, hard, and heavy, and takes 
a good polish. It is too small to enter into general use, but 
is often employed for the lesser utensils of the farm. The 
bark has been very successfully employed by physicians in 
Philadelphia, and elsewhere, and is found to possess nearly 
the same properties as the Peruvian bark. Bigelow states 
in his American Botany, that its use in fevers has been 
known and practised in many sections of the Union by the 
country people, for more than fifty years. 

Besides this native species there is an European 
dogwood {Cornus mascula), commonly called the Cornelian 
cherry, which is now planted in many of our gardens, and 
grows to the height of twenty or thirty feet. The small 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 231 

yellow flowers come out close to the branches in Maich or 
April, and the whole tree is quite handsome in autunm, 
from the size and color of its fine oval scarlet berries. 
These are as large as a small cherry, transparent, and hang 
for a long time upon the tree. The leaves are much like 
those of the common Dogwood. Although the blossoms 
are produced when the plant is quite a bush, yet it must 
attain some age before the fruit sets. Altogether, the 
Cornelian cherry is one of the most desirable of small 
trees.* 



The Salisburia, or Ginko Tree. 

Isat. Ord. Taxacea). Lin. Syst. Monoecin, Polyandria. 

This fine exotic tree, which appears to be perfectly hardy 
in this climate, is one of the most singular in its foliage that 
has ever come under our observation. The leaves are 
wedge-shaped, or somewhat triangular, attached to the 
petioles at one of the angles, and pale yellowish green in 
color ; the ribs or veins, instead of diverging from the 
central mid-rib of the leaf, as is commonly the case m 
dicotyledonous plants, are all parallel ; in short, they almost 
exactly resemble (except in being three or four times as 
large) those of the beautiful Maiden hair fern (Adiantum) 
common in our woods : being thickened at the edges and 
notched on the margin in a similar manner. The male 
flowers are yellow, sessile catkins ; the female is seated in a 
curious kind of cup, formed by the enlargement of the sum- 
mit of the peduncle. The fruit is a drupe, about an inch 
in length, containing a nut, which, according to Dr. Abel, 
IS almost always to be seen for sale in the markets of China 

♦ {Gornusvafiegata), the Variegated Dogwood, with leaves curiously blotched 
with white, and (C. sanguinea), with its young shoots of a bright scarlet— very 
ehowy in Winter, are both very desirable varieties. — H. W. S. 



232 LANDSCAPE 'JARDENING. 

and Japan, the native country of this tree. They are eaten 
after having been roasted pr boiled, and are considerec' 
excellent. 

The Salisburia was introduced into this country by tha\ 
zealous amateur of horticulture and botany, the late Mr. 
Hamilton, of Woodlands, near Philadelphia, who brought 
it from England in 1784, where it had been received from 
Japan about thirty years previous. There are several of 
these now growing at Woodlands ; and the largest measures 
sixty feet in height, and three feet four inches in circum- 
ference. The next largest specimen which we have seen 
is now standing on the north side of that fine public square, 
the Boston Common. It originally grew in the grounds 
of Gardiner Green, Esq., of Boston ; but though of fine size, 
it was, about three years since, carefully removed to its 
present site, which proves its capability for bearing trans- 
planting. Its measurement is forty feet in elevation, and 
three in circumference. There is also a very handsome 
tree in the grounds of Messrs. Landreth, Philadelphia, about 
thirty-five feet high and very thrifty. 

We have not learned that any of these trees have yet 
borne their blossoms ; at any rate none but male blossoms 
have yet been produced. Abroad, the Salisburia has fruited 
in the South of France, and young trees have been reared 
from the nuts. 

The bark is somewhat soft and leathery, and on the 
trunk and branches assumes a singular tawny yellow or 
greyish color. The tree grows pretty rapidly, and forms 
an exceedingly neat, loose, conical, or tapering head. The 
timber is very solid and heavy ; and the tree is said to grow 
to enormous size in its native country. Bunge, who accom- 
panied the mission from Russia to Pekin, states that he saw 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 'Soo 

near a Pagoda, an immense Ginko tree, with a trunk 
nearly lorty feet in circumference, and still in full vigor of 
vegetation.* 

Although nearly related to the Pine tribe, and forming, 
apparently, the connecting link between the conifercB and 
exogenous trees, yet, unlike the former tribe, the wood of 
the tree is perfectly free from resin. 

The Ginko tree is so great a botanical curiosity, and is 
so singularly beautiful when clad with its fern-like foliage, 
that it is strikingly adapted to add ornament and interest 
to the pleasure ground. As the foliage is of that kind which 
must be viewed near by to understand its peculiarity, and 
as the form and outline of the tree are pleasing, and har- 
monize well with buildings, we would recommend that it 
be planted near the house, where its unique character can 
be readily seen and appreciated. 

Salishuria adiantifolia is the only species. In the 
United States it appears to flourish best in a rich fertile soil, 
rather dry than otherwise. South of Albany it is perfectly 
hardy, and may therefore be considered a most valuable 
acquisition to our catalogue of trees of the first class. It 
has hitherto been propagated chiefly from layers ; but cut- 
tings of the preceding year's growth, planted early in the 
spring, in a fine sandy loam, and kept shaded and watered, 
will also root without much difficulty. When the old trees 
already mentioned (which have doubtless been raised from 
seed) begin to blossom, plants reared from them by cuttings 
or grafts, will, of course, produce blossoms and fruit much 
more speedily than when reared from the nut. 

» Bull, de la Soc. d'Agr. du depart de I'Herault. Arb. Brit. 



234 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

The American Cypress Tree. Faxodium. 
Nat. Ord. Coniferee. Lin. Syst. Moncecia, Monadeliihia. 

The Southern or Deciduous cypress {Taxodium distu 
chum)* is one of the most majestic, useful, and beautiful 
trees of the southern part of North America. Naturally, it 
is not found growing north of Maryland, or the south part 
of Delaware, but below that boundary it becomes extremely 
multiplied. The low grounds and alluvial soils subject to 
inundations, are constantly covered with this tree ; and on 
the banks of the Mississippi and other great western rivers, 
for more than 600 miles from its mouth, those vast marshes, 
caused by the periodical bursting and overflowing of their 
banks, are filled with huge an^ almost endless growths of 
this tree, called Cypress swamps. Beyond the boundaries 
of the United States its geographical range extends to 
Mexico ; and Michaux estimates that it is found more or 
less abundantly, over a range of country more than 3000 
miles in extent. 

" In the swamps of the southern states and the Floridas, 
on whose deep, miry soil a new layer of vegetable mould 
is deposited every year by the floods, the Cypress attains 
its utmost development. The largest stocks are 120 feet 
in height, and from 25 to 40 feet in circumference above 
the conical base, which at the surface of the earth is always 
three or four times as large as the continued diameter of 
the trunk ; in felling them, the negroes are obliged to raise 
themselves upon scaflblds five or six feet from the ground 
The roots of the largest stocks, particularly of such as are 

* Cupressus disticha. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. iio5 

most exposed to inundation, are charged with conical pro- 
tuberances, commonly from eighteen to twenty-four inches, 
and sometimes four or five feet in thickness ; these are 
always hollow, smooth on the surface, and covered with a 
reddish bark, like the roots, which they.resemble also in the 
softness of their wood ; they exhibit no sig« of vegetation, 
and I have never succeeded in obtaining shoots by wound- 
ing their surface and covering them with the earth. No 
cause can be assigned for their existence : they are peculiar 
to the Cypress, and begin to appear when it is twenty or 
twenty-five feet in height ; they are not made use of except 
by the negroes for bee-hives." 

" The foliage is open, light, and of a fresh, agreeable 
tint ; each leaf is four or five inches long, and consists of 
two parallel rows of leaflets, upon a common stem. The 
leaflets are small, fine, and somewhat arching, with the 
convex side outwards. In the autumn, they change from 
a light green to a dull red, and are shed soon after." 

" The Cypress blooms in Carolina about the first of 
February. The male and female flowers are borne 
separately, by the same tree ; the first in flexible pendulous 
aments, and the second in bunches, scarcely apparent. 
The cones are about as large as the thumb, hard, round, 
of an uneven surface, and stored with small, irregular, 
ligneous seeds, containing a cylindrical kernel ; they are 
ripe in October, and retain their productive virtue for two 
years."* 

Such is the account given of the Cypress in its native 
soils. In the. middle states it is planted only as an orna- 
mental ti'ee ; and while, in the South, its great abundance 

« N. A. Sylva. ii. 332. 



2oG LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

causes it to be neglected oi' disregarded as such, its rarity 
here allows us fully to appreciate its beauty. North of the 
43° of latitude it will not probably stand the winter without 
protection ; but south of that, it will attain a good size. 
The finest planted specimen which we have seen, and one 
which is probably equal in grandeur to almost any in their 
native swamps, is growing in the Bartram Botanic Garden, 
near Philadelphia. That garden was founded by the fathei 
of American botanists, John Bartram, who explored the 
southern and western territories, then vast wilds, at the 
peril of his life, to furnish the savans and gardens of 
Europe, with the productions of the new world, and who 
commenced the living collection, now unequalled, of 
American trees, in his own garden. In the lower part of 
it stands the great Cypress, a tree of noble dimensions, 
measuring at this time 130 feet in height and 25 in circum- 
ference. The tree was held by Bartram's son, William, 
while his father assisted in planting it, ninety-nine years 
ago. The elder Bartram at the time expressed to his son, 
the hope that the latter might live to see it a large tree. 
Long before he died (not many years since), it had become 
the prodigy of the garden, and great numbers from the 
neighboring city annually visit it, to admire its vast size, 
and recline beneath its ample shade. 

The foliage of the Cypress is peculiar ; for while it has 
a resemblance to the Hemlock, Yew, and other evergreen 
trees, its cheerful, bright green tint, and loose airy tufts of 
foliage, give it a character of great lightness and elegance. 
In young trees, the forr^i of the head is pyramidal or 
pointed ; but when they become old, Michaux remarks, the 
head becomes widely spread, and even depressed, thus 
assuming a remarkably picturesque aspect. This is also 



DECIDUOUS OltXAMENTAL TREES. 237 

heightened by the deep furrows or channels in the trunk, 
and the singular excrescences or knobs already described, 
which, jutting above the surface of the ground, give a 
strange ruggedness to the surface beneath the shadow of 
its branches. A single Cypress standing alone, like that in 
t-he Bartram Garden, is a grand object, uniting with the 
expression of great elegance and lightness in its foliage) 
that of magnificence, when we perceive its extraordinary 
height, and huge stem and branches. 

In composition, the Cypress produces the happiest effect, 
when it is planted with the hemlock and firs, with which 
it harmonizes well in the form of its foliage, while its 
soft light green hue is beautifully opposed to the richer and 
darker tints of those thickly-clad evergreens. Wherever 
there is a moist and rather rich soil, the Cypress may be 
advantageously planted : for although we have seen it 
thrive well on a fertile dry loam, yet to attain all its lofty 
proportions, it requires a soil where its thirsty roots can 
drink in a sufficient supply of moisture. There its growth 
is quite rapid ; and although it may, at first, suffer a little 
from the cold at the north, in severe winters, yet it 
continues its progress, and vdtimately becomes a stately 
tree. 

* 

In many parts of the southern states, the timber of this 
tree, which is of excellent quality, is extensively used in 
the construction of the framework and outer covering of 
houses. It is also esteemed for shingles ; and a large trade 
has long been carried on from the south in Cypress 
shingles. Posts made of this tree are found to be very 
lasting ; and it is also employed for water-pipes, masts of 
vessels, etc. In the north, its place is supplied by the Pine 



238 LANDSCAPE GARDENING, 

timber, but in many southern cities, particularly New 
Orleans, it will be found to enter into the composition of 
almost every building. 

In the nurseries, the Cypress is usually propagated from 
' the seed ; and as it sends down strong roots, it should be 
transplanted where it is finally to grow before it attains too 
great a development. 

The European Cypress {Cupressus sempervirens), a 
beautiful evergreen tree, shaped like a small Lombardy 
poplar, which is the principal ornament of the churchyards 
and cemeteries abroad, is unfortunately too tender to 
endure the winter in any of the states north of Virginia. 
South of that state, it may probably become naturalized, 
and serve to add to the catalogue of beautiful indigenous 
evergreen trees. 

From its dark and sombre tint, and perpetual verdure, it 
is peculiarly the emblem of grief: 

" Binde you my brows with mourning Cyparesse, 
And palish twigs of deadlier poplar tree, 
Or if some sadder shades ye can devise, 
Those sadder shades vaile my light-loathing eyes." 

Bp. Hau. 



The Larch Tree. Larix. 
Nat. Ord. Coniferae. Lin. Syst. MonoBcia, Monadelphia. 

The Larch is a resinous, cone-bearing tree, belonging 
to the Pine family, but differing from that genus in the 
annual shedding of its leaves like other deciduous trees. 
In Europe it is a native of the coldest parts of the Alps 
and Appenines ; and in America, is indigenous to the most 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 



230 



northern parts of the Union, and the Canadas. The leaves 
are collected in little bunches, and the branches shoot out 
from the main stem in a horizontal, or, more generally 
m a declining position. 




^;^i--t_^-*jDr3 



[Fig. 86. The European Larch.] 

For picturesque beauty, the Larch is almost unrivalled. 
Unlike most other trees which must grow old, uncouth, and 
misshapen before they can attain that expression, this is 
singularly so, as soon almost as it begins to assume the 
stature of a tree. It can never be called a beautiful tree, 
so far as beauty consists in smooth outlines, a finely rounded 
head, or gracefully drooping branches. But it has what is 
perhaps more valuable, as being more rare, — the expression 
of boldness and picturesqueness peculiar to itself, and 



240 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

which it seems to have caught from the wild and rugged 
chasms, rocks, and precipices of its native mountains. 
There its irregular and spiry top and branches, harmonize 
admirably with the abrupt variation of the surroundmg 
hills, and suit well with the gloomy grandeur of those 
frowning heights. 

Like all highly expressive and characteristic trees, much 
more care is necessary in introducing the Larch into 
artificial scenery judiciously, than round-headed trees. If 
planted in abundance, it becomes monotonous, from the 
similitude of its form in different specimens ; it should 
therefore be introduced sparingly, and always for some 
special purpose. This purpose may be either to give spirit 
to a group of other trees, to strengthen the already pic- 
turesque character of a scene, or to give life and variety 
to one naturally tame and uninteresting. All these objects 
can be fully effected by the Larch ; and although it is by 
far the most suited to harmonize with and strengthen the 
expression of scenery naturally grand, or picturesque, with 
which it most readily enters into combination ; yet, in the 
hands of taste, there can be no reason why so marked a 
tree should not be employed in giving additional expression 
to scenery of a tamer character. 

The extremely rapid growth of this tree when planted 
upon thin, barren, and dry soils, is another great merit 
which it possesses as an ornamental tree ; and it is also a 
necessary one to enable it to thrive well on those very 
rocky and barren soils, where it is most in character with 
the surrounding objects. It is highly valuable to produce 
effect or shelter suddenly, on portions of an estate, too thin 
or meagre in their soil to afford the sustenance necessary 
to the growth of many other deciduous trees. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 24' 

The Larch is the great timber tree of Europe. Its wood 
is remarkably heavy, strong, and durable, exceeding in all 
those qualities the best English oak. To these, it is said to 
add the peculiarity of being almost uninflammable, and 
resisting the influence of heat for a long time. Vitruvius 
relates that when Caesar attacked the castle of Larignum, 
near the Alps, whose gate was commanded by a tower built 
of this wood, from the top of which the besieged annoyd 
him with their stones and darts, he commanded his army to 
surround it with fagots, and set fire to the whole. When, 
however, all the former were consumed, he was astonished 
to find the Larch tower uninjured.* 

The Larch is unquestionably the most enduring timber 
tnat we have. It is'remarkable, that whilst the red wood 
or heart wood is not formed at all in the other resinous 
tiees, till they have lived for a good many years, the Larch, 
on the contrary, begins to make it soon after it is planted ; 
and while you may fell a Scotch fir of thirty years old, 
and find no red wood in it, you can hardly cut down a 
young Larch large enough to be a walking stick, without 
finding just such a proportion of red wood compared to its 
diameter as a 'ree, as you will find in the largest Larch tree 
in the forest, compared to its diameter. To prove the 
f alue of the Larch as a timber tree, several experiments 
were made in the river Thames. Posts of equal thickness 
and strength, some of Larch and others of oak, were 
driven down facing the river wall, where they were 
alternately covered with water by the efiect of the tide, 
and then left dry by its fall. This species of alternation is 
the most trying of all circumstances for the endurance of 
timber ; and accordingly the oaken posts decayed, ana 
were twice renewed in the course of a very few years, 

* Newton's Vitruvius, p. 40. 

16 



•^42 LAND.-^CAPE GARDENING. 

while those that were made of the Larch remahied 
altogether unchanged. 

Besides the foregoing species {Larix Europea)*we have 
two native sorts much resembling it ; which are chiefly 
found in the states of Maine, Vermont, and New 
Hampshire. These are known by the names of the Red 
Larch (L. Microcarpa) and the Black Larch (L. pendula), 
which latter is often called Hackmatack. In the coldest 
parts of the Union, these often grow to 80 and 100 feet 
high ; but in the middle states they are only seen in 
the swamps, and appear not to thrive so well except in 
such situations. For this reason the European Larch is 
of course greatly preferable when plantations are to be 
made, either for profit or ornament. The latter is 
generally increased from seed in the nurseries. 

The American Larches are well worthy a place where 
suflicient moisture can be commanded, as their peculiar 
forms are striking, though not so finely picturesque as that 
of the European species. 

* A very curious and remarkable addition to the varieties of this genus ia 
[Larix pendula) tho Weeping Lrirch, differing from our {Pendula Americana) 
American Weeping Larcli, and much more extraordinary. When worked ten 
or fifteen feet higli, the inclination of the branches and spray is immediately 
downward, and when gently swayed by tbs wind, it is excessively graceful and 
pretty. We do not know a more distinctive and striking tree, or one more 
rare. It seems diiBcult to transjilant— at leas,t this is our experience — and it 
can only be increased by grafting by approach. Nurserymen are apt to work 
it too low : it should never be grafted at a less distance than ten to twelve feet 
-and for some years, it sliould be supported by a stout stake, as the tree is apt 
lo be top-heavy. This curious variety was found accidentally, if we remember 
right, some ten to fifteen years since, in a nursery near Hereford, England, by 
a Mr. Gtodsall, and is known in English nurseries as Larix C07ninunis pendula 
Godmlii. Larix GriJiiJdi, the Sikkin Larch, and Abies l-oem/eri (though at 
present classed as an Abies, we believe may prove to be Larch), are two very 
new varieties, too expensi vo at present to be generally introduced. A Koem/eri, 
known also as the Golden Pine of China, is very highly extolled for its beauti- 
ful green in Summer, lunl L-'oldcn colr.r in Autumn or Winter. — 11. W, S. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMEXTAL TREES. 248 

In the upper part of Massachusetts, we have observed 
them in their native soils growing 70 or 80 feet high, and 
assuming a highly pleasing appearance. Their foliage is 
hluish-green, and more delicate ; yet altogether the Ame- 
rican Larch appears to be more stiff and formal (except 
far north) than the foreign tree. 



The Virgilia Tree. Virgilia* 

Nat. Ord. Leguminaceas. Lin. Syst. Decandria, Monogynia. 

This fine American tree, still very rare in our orna- 
mental plantations, is a native of West Tennessee, and the 
banks of the Kentucky river, and in its wild localities 
seems confined to rather narrow limits. It was named, 
when first discovered, after the poet Virgil, whose 
agreeable Georgics have endeared him to all lovers of 
nature and a country Hfe. 

The Virgilia is certainly one of the most beautiful of 
all that class of trees bearing papilionaceous, or pea-shaped 
flowers, and pinnate leaves, of which the common locust 
may serve as a familiar example. It grows to a fine, 
rather broad head, about 30 or 40 feet high, with dense 
and luxuriant foliage — much more massy and finely tufted 
than that of most other pinnated-leaved trees. Each leaf 
is composed of seven or eight leaflets, three or four inches 
long, and half that breadth, the whole leaf being more than 
a foot in length. These expand rather late in the spring, 
and are, about the middle of May, followed by numerous 
terminal racemes, or clusters, of the most delicate and 
charming pea-shaped blossoms, of a pure white. These 

• Cladeastris tinctoria. Torrey and Gray. 



244 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. . 

clusters are six or eight inches in length, aud quite bioad, 
the flowers daintily formed, and arranged in a much more 
graceful, loose, and easy manner, than those of the locust. 
They have a very agreeable, slight perfume, especially in 
the evening, and the whole effect of the tree, when 
standing singly on a lawn and filled with blossoms, is 
highly elegant. 

When the blossoms disappear, they are followed by the 
pods, about the fourth of an inch wide, and three or four 
inches long, containing a few seeds. These ripen in July 
or August. 

This tree is frequently called the Yellow-wood in its 
native haunts — its heart wood abounding in a fine yellow 
coloring matter, which, however, is said to be rather 
difficult to fix, or render permanent. The bark is 
beautifully smooth, and of a greenish grey color. In 
autumn, the leaves, when they die off, take a lively yellow 
tint. 

This tree grows pretty rapidly, and is very agreeable in 
its form and foliage, even while young. It commences 
flowering when about ten or fifteen feet high, and we can 
recommend it with confidence to the amateur of choice 
trees as worthy of a conspicuous place in the smallest 
collection. 

The only species known is Virgilia lutea. It was first 
described by Michaux, and was sent to England about 
the year 1812. Quite the finest planted specimens within 
our knowledge are growing in some of the old seats in the 
northern suburbs of Philadelphia, where there are several 
thirty or forty feet in height, and exceedingly beautiful, 
both in their form and blossoms. A small specimen 
on our lawn, eighteen feet high, blossoms now very pro- 
fuselv. 



DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 245 

The Paulownia Tree. Paulownia. 
Nat. Ord. Scrophulariaceae. Lin. Syst. 



The Paulownia is an entirely new ornamental tree, verj 
lately introduced into our gardens and pleasure-grounds 
from Japan, and is likely to prove hardy here, wherever 
the Ailantus stands the winter, being naturally from the 
same soil and climate as that tree. It is remarkable for 
the large size of its foliage, and the great rapidity of its 
growth. The largest leaves are more than two feet in 
diameter, slightly rough or hairy, and serrated on the 
edges. They are heart-shaped, and have been likened to 
those of the Catalpa, but they perhaps more nearly re- 
semble those of the common Sun-flower. 

In its growth, this tree, while young, equals or exceeds 
the Ailantus. In rich soils, near Paris, it has produced 
shoots, in a single season, 12 or 14 feet in length. After 
being two or three years planted, it commences yielding 
its blossoms in panickd clusters. These are bluish lilac, 
of an open mouthed, tubular form, are very abundantly 
distributed, and, together with the large foliage, and the 
robust habit of growth, give this tree a gay and striking 
appearance. Its flower buds open during the last of 
April, or early in May, and have a slight, syringa-like 
perfume. 

Should the Paulownia prove as hardy as (from our fine 
dry summers for ripening its wood) we confidently 
anticipate* it will be worthy of a prominent place in every 
arrangement of choice ornamental trees. 

* We doubt if this tree proves quite as hardy as Mr. Downing believed. 
Our own trees, some of the oldest in the country, have missed their bloom for 
three years — though previously, they had blossomed regularly and well. It 
is not impossible that, as the tree gets older, and its growth less rampant, it 
may ripen off its wood better, and thus be in a better condition to resist 
Spring frosts.— 11. W. S. 



'Mi5 



UANDSCAPE GARDENINO 



SECTION V. 

EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 

[he History and Description of all the finest Hardy Evergreen Trees. Beharks on 

THEIR EFFECTS in LANDSCAPE GaRDENINO, INDIVIDUALLY AND IN CoMPOSITlOH. 

Their Cultivation, etc. The Pines. The Firs. The Cedar of Lebanon, and the 
Deodar Cedar. The Red Cedar. The Arbor Vita;. The Holly. The Yew, etc. 

Beneath the forest's skirt I rest, 

Whose branching Pines rise dark and high, 

And hear the breezes of the West 

Among the threaded foHage sigh. ' 



Bryant 



The Pine Tree. Pinus. 



Nat. Ord. Coniferas. 



Lin. Syst. Moncecia, Monadelphia. 




H E Pines compose by far the most 
important genus of evergreen trees. 
In either continent they form the 
<^^^^^ densest and most extensive forests 
known, and their wood in civil and naval architecture, 
and for various other purposes, is more generally used 
than any other. In the United States and the Canadas, 
there are ten species ; in the territory west of the 
Mississippi to the Pacific, including Mexico, there are 
fourteen ; in Europe fourteen ; in Asia, eight, and in 
Africa, two species. All the colder parts of the old world 



EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 247 

— the mountains of Switzerland and the Alps, the shores 
of the Baltic, vast tracts in Norvi^ay, Sweden, Germany, 
Poland, and Russia, as well as millions of acres in our 
own country, abound with immense and interminable 
forests of Pine. Capable of enduring extreme cold, 
growing on thin soils, and flourishing in an atmosphere, 
the mean temperature of which is not greater than 37° or 
38° Fahrenheit, they are found as far north as latitude 
68° in Lapland ; while on mountains they grow at a 
greater elevation than any other arborescent plant. On 
Mount Blanc, the Pines grow within 2,800 feet of the line 
of perpetual snow.* In Mexico, also, Humboldt found 
them higher than any other tree ; and Lieut, Glennie 
describes them as growinff in thick forests on the mountain 
of Popocatapetl, as high as 12, 693 feet, beyond which 
altitude vegetation ceases entirely. f 

The Pines are, most of them, trees of considerable 
magnitude and lofty growth, varying from 40 to 1 50 or 
even 200 feet in height in favorable situations, rising with 
a perpendicular trunk, which is rarely divided into 
branches bearing much proportionate size to the main 
stem, as in most deciduous trees. The branches are 
much more horizontal than those of the latter class 
(excepting the Larch). The leaves are linear or needle- 
shaped, and are always found arranged in little parcels 
of from two to six, the number varying in the different 
species. The blossoms are produced in spring, and the 
seeds, borne in cones, are not ripened, in many sorts, until 
the following autumn. Every part of the stem abounds 
hi a resinous juice, which is extracted, and forms in the 

* Edinburgh Phil. Joum. 

♦■ Proc. Geological Soc. Lond. Arb. Brit. 



248 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

various shapes of tai% pitch, rosin, turpentine, balsam, etc 
a considerable article of trade and export. 

As ornamental trees, the Pines are peculiarly valuable 
for the deep verdure of their foliage, which, unchanged by 
the severity of the seasons, is beautiful at all periods, and 
especially so in winter ; for the picturesque forms which 
many of them assume when fully grown ; and for the 
effectual shelter and protection which they afford in cold, 
bleak, and exposed situations. We shall here particular- 
ize those species, natives of either hemisphere, that are 
most valuable to the planter, and are also capable of 
enduring the open air of the middle states. 

The White Pine {P. strohus), called also Sapling Pine, 
and Apple Pine, in various parts of this country, and 
Weymouth Pine abroad, is undoubtedly the most beautiful 
North American tree of the genus. The foliage is much 
lighter in color, more delicate in texture, and the whole 
tufting of the leaves more airy and pleasing than that of 
the other species. It is also beautiful in every stage of its 
growth, from a plant to a stately tree of 150 feet. When 
it grows in strong soil, it becomes thick and compact in its 
he'ad ; but its most beautiful form is displayed when it 
stands in a dry and gravelly site ; there it shoots up with a 
majestic and stately shaft, studded every six or eight feet 
with horizontal tiers of branches and foliage. The hue of 
the leaves is much paler and less sombre than that of the 
other native sorts ; and being less stiffly set upon tiie 
branches, is more easily put in motion by the wind ; the 
murmuring of the wind among the Pine tops is, poetically 
thought to give out rather a melancholy sound : — 

" The pines of Moenalus were heard to mourn. 
And sounds of woe along the grove wore borne," 



EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 240 

says V^irgil, speaking of the European Pine. But the 
murmur of the slight breeze among the foHage of the 
White Pine gives out a remarkably soothing and agreeable 
sound, which agrees better with the description of Leigh 
Hunt : 

" And then there fled by me a rash of air 
That stirfd up all the other foliage there, 
Filling the solitude with panting tongues. 
At which the Pines woke up into their songs. 
Shaking their choral locks." 

Pickering, one of our own poets, thus characterizes the 
melody : 

" The overshadowing pines alone, through which I roam. 
Their verdure keep, although it darker looks ; 
And hark ! as it comes sighing through the grove. 
The exhausted gale, a spirit there awakens. 
That wild and melancholy music malies." 

This species — the White Pine — seldom becomes flattened 
or rounded on the summit in old age, like many other sorts, 
but preserves its graceful and tapering form entire. From 
its pleasing growth and color, we consider it by far the 
most desirable kind for planting in the proximity of 
buildings, and its growth for an evergreen is also quite 
rapid. 

The leaves of the White Pine are thickly disposed on 
the branches, in little bundles or parcels of five. The 
cones are about five inches long : they hang, when nearly 
ripe, in a pendulous manner from the branches, and open, 
to shed their seeds, about the first of October. The bark 
on trees less than twenty years old is remarkably smooth; 
but becomes cracked and rough, like that of the othei 



250 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Pines, when they grow old, although it never splits and 
separates itself from the trunk in scales, as in other species. 
The great forests of White Pine lie in the northern parts 
of the Union ; and the geographical range of this tree is 
comprised chiefly between New York and the 47th degree 
of north latitude, it being neither capable of resisting the 
fierce heat of the south, nor the intense cold of the extreme 
northern regions. In Maine, New Hampshire, and 
Vermont, the White Pine abounds in various situations, 
adapting itself to every variety of soil, from dry, gravelly 
upland, to swamps constantly wet. Michaux measured 
two trunks near the river Kennebec, one of which was 
154 feet long, and 54 inches in diameter; the other 144 
feet long, and 44 inches in diameter, at three feet from the 
ground. Dr. Dwight also mentions a specimen on the 
Kattskill 249 feet long, and several on the Unadilla 200 
feet long, and three in diameter.* These, though they are 
remarkable specimens, show the stately altitude which this 
fine species sometimes attains, equalling in majesty the 
grandest specimens of the old world : 

The rougher rinded Pine, 



The great Argoan ship's brave ornament, 
Which, coveting with his high top's extent 
To make the mountains touch the stars divine. 
Decks all the forest with embellishment. 

Spenser. 

The Yellow Pine (P. mitis) is a fine evergreen, usually 
reaching a stature of 50 or 60 feet, with a nearly uniform 
diameter of about 18 inches for two-thirds of its length. 
The branches generally take a handsome conical shape, and 
the whole head considerably resembles that of the spruce, 

» Dwight's Travels, Vol. iv. p. 21— 2G. 



EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 251 

whence it is sometimes called the Spruce Pine. The term 
Yellow Pine arises from the color of the wood as contrasted 
with that of the foregoing sort, which is white. The leaves 
of this species are long and flexible, arranged in pairs upon 
the branches, and have a fine dark green color. The cones 
are very small, scarcely measuring an inch and a half in 
length, and are clothed on the exterior with short spines. 
The growth is quite slow. 

The Yellow Pine is rarely found above Albany to the 
northward, but it extends as far south as the Floridas. It 
grows in the greatest abundance in New Jersey, Maryland, 
and Virginia, and sometimes measures five or six feet in 
circumference. In plantations, it has the valuable property 
to recommend it, of growing on the very poorest lands. 

The Pitch Pine (P. rigida) is a very distinct sort, 
common in the whole of the United States east of the 
Alleghanies. It is very stiflf and formal in its growth when 
young, but as it approaches maturity, it becomes one of the 
most picturesque trees of the genus. The branches, 
which shoot out horizontally, bend downwards at the 
extremities, and the top of the tree, when old, takes a 
flattened shape. The whole air and expression of the tree 
is wild and romantic, and is harmonious with portions of 
scenery where these characters predominate. The leaves 
are collected in threes, and the color of the foliage is a dark 
green. The cones are pyramidal, from one to three inches 
long, and armed with short spines. 

The bark of this kind of Pine is remarkably rough, 
black, and furrowed, even upon young trees ; and the wood 
is filled with resinous sap, from which pitch and tar are 
copiously supplied. The trees grow in various parts of 
the country, both on the most meagre soils and in nioisl 



252 LANDSCAPE GARDENING, 

swamps, with almost equal facility. In thfj latter situations 
they are, however, comparatively destitute of resin, but the 
stems often rise to 80 feet in elevation. 

The foregoing are the finest and most important species 
of the north. The Red Pine {Pinus rubra) and the Grey 
Pine are species of small or secondary size, chiefly indige- 
nous to British America. The .Jersey Pine {P. inops) is a 
dwarfish species, often called the Scrub Pine, which seldom 
grows more than 25 feet high. 

There are some splendid species that are confined to 
the southern states, where they grow in great luxuriance. 
Amono; the most interesting of these is the Long-leaved 

o o o 

Pine (P. Australis), a tree of 70 feet elevation, with superb 
wandlike foliage^ borne in threes, often nearly a foot in 
length. The cones are also seven or eight inches long, 
containing a kernel or seed of agreeable flavor. As this 
tree grows as far north as Norfolk in Virginia, we are 
strongly inclined to believe that it might be naturalized in 
the climate of the middle states, and think it would become 
one of the most valuable additions to our catalogue of ever- 
green trees. The Loblolly Pine {P. Toeda) of Virginia 
has also fine foliage, six inches or more in length, and 
grows to 80 feet in height. Besides these already named, 
the southern states produce the Pond Pine (P. Serotina), 
which resembles considerably the Pitch Pine, with, how- 
ever, longer leaves, and the Table Mountain Pine (P. Pun- 
gens), which grows 40 or 50 feet high, and is found exclu- 
sively upon that part of the Alleghany range. 

We must not forget in this enumeration of the Pines of 
North America, the magnificent species of California and 
the North- West coast. The most splendid of these was 
discovered in Northern California, and named the Pinus 



EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 253 

Lambertiana, in honor of that distinguished botanist, A. B. 
Lambert, Esq., of London, the author of a superb work on 
this genus of trees. It is undoubtedly one of the finest 
evergreens in the world, averaging from 100 to 200 feet in 
height. Its discoverer, Mr. Douglass, the indefatigable 
collector of the Horticultural Society of London, measured 
one of these trees that had blown down, which was two 
hundred and fifteen feet in length, and fifty-seven feet nine 
inches in circumference, at three feet from the root ; while 
at one hundred and thirty-four feet from the root, it was 
seventeen feet five inches in girth. This, it i^s stated, is by 
no means the maximum height of the species. The cones 
of the Lambert Pine measure sixteen inches in length ; and 
the seeds are eaten by the natives of those regions, either 
roasted or made into cakes, after being pounded. The other 
species found by Mr. Douglass grow naturally in the 
mountain valleys of the western coast, and several of them, 
as the Pimis grandis and nohilis, are almost as lofty as 
the foregoing sort ; while Pinus rnonticola and P. Sabi- 
niana are highly beautiful in their forms and elegant in 
foliage. The seeds of nearly all these sorts were first sent 
to the garden of the London Horticultural Society, where 
many of the young trees are now growing ; and we hope 
that they will soon be introduced into our plantations, 
which they are so admirably calculated, by their elegant 
foliage and stupendous magnitude, to adorn. 

The European Pines next deserve our attention. The 
most common species in the north of Europe is the Scotch 
Pine {P. sylvestris), a dark, tall, evergreen tree, with bluish 
foliage, of 80 feet in height, which furnishes most of the 
deal timber of Europe. It is one of the most rapid of all 
the Pines in its growth, even on poor soils, and is therefore 



254 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

valuable in new places. The Stone Pine (P. pined) is a 
native of the South of Europe, where it is decidedly the 
most picturesque evergreen tree of that continent. It 
belongs peculiarly to Italy, and its " vast canopy, supported 
on a naked column of great height, forms one of the chief 
and peculiar beauties in Italian sceneiy, and in the living 
landscapes of Claude." We regret that it is too tender to 
bear our winters, but its place may in a great measure be 
supplied by the Pinaster or Cluster Pine (P. pinaster), 
which is quite hardy, and succeeds well in the United 
States. This__has much of the same picturesque expression, 
depressed or rounded head, and tall columnar stem, which 
mark the Stone Pine ; while its thickly massed foliage, 
clustering cones, and rough bark, render it distinct and 
strikingly interesting. 

The Corsican Pine (P. laricio) is a handsome, regular 
shaped, pyramidal tree, with the branches disposed in tiers 
like those of the White Pine. It grows to a large size, and 
is valued for its extremely dark green foliage, thickly spread 
upon the branches. It is also one of the most rapid growers 
among the foreign sorts, and has been found to grow 
remarkably well upon the barren chalk downs of England. 
Pinus cembra is a very slow growing, though valuable 
kind, indigenous to Switzerland, and hardy here. 

These are the principal European species that deserve 
notice here for their ornamental qualities. Some splendid 
additions have been made to this genus, by the discovery 
of new species on the Himalaya mountains of Asia ; and 
from the great elevation at which they are found growing 
wild, we have reason to hope that they will become natu- 
ralized m our climate. 

We must not leave this extensive family of trees without 



EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 255 

adverting to their numerous and important uses. In the 
United States, full four-fifths of all the houses built are con- 
structed of the White and Yellow Pine, chiefly of the former. 
Soft, easily worked, light and fine in texture, it is almost 
universally employed in carpentry, and for all the purposes 
of civil architecture ; while the tall stately trunks furnish 
masts and spars, not only for our own vessels, but many of 
those of England. A great commerce is therefore carried 
on in the timber of this tree, and vast quantities of the 
boards, etc., are annually exported to Europe. The Yellow 
and Pitch Pine furnish much of the enormous supplies of 
fuel consumed by the great number of steamboats employed 
in navigating our numerous inland rivers. The Long- 
leaved Pine is the great timber tree of the southern states ; 
and when we take into account all its various products, we 
must admit it to be the most valuable tree of the whole 
family. The consumption of the wood of this tree in build- 
ing, in the southern states, is immense ; and its sap furnishes 
nearly all the turpentine, tar, pitch, and rosin, used in this 
country, or exported to Europe. The turpentine flows from 
large incisions made in the trunk (into boxes fastened to 
the side of the trees for that purpose) during the whole of 
the spring and summer. Spirit of turpentine is obtained 
from this by distillation. Tar is procured by burning the 
dead wood in kilns, when it flows out in a current from a 
conduit made in the bottom. Pitch is prepared by boiling 
tar until it is about one half dimiAished in bulk ; and rosin 
is the residuum of the distillation when spirit of turpentine 
is made. The Carolinas produce all these in the greatest 
abundance, and so long ago as 1807, the exportation of 
them to England alone amounted to nearly $800,000 in 
ll)at single year. 



25G LANDSCAIE OAIIDENINO. 

The Fir Trees. Abies. 
Nat Old. Coniferae. Lin. Syst. Moncec:a, Monadelpliia. 

The Fir trees differ from the Pines, to which they are 
nearly related, in having much shorter leaves, which are 
placed singly upon the branches, instead of being collected 
in little bundles or parcels of two, three, or five, as is the 
case in all Pines. They generally grow in a more conical 
manner than the latter, and in ornamental plantations owe 
their beauty in most cases more to their symmetrical 
regularity of growth than to picturesque expression. 

The Balsam, or Balm of Gilead Fir (A. habamea), 
sometimes also called the American Silver Fir, is one of 
the most ornamental of our native evergreens. It is found 
most abundantly in Maine and Nova Scotia, but is 
scattered more or less on the mountain tops, and in cold 
swamps, through various other parts of the Union. At 
Pine Orchard, near the Catskill Mountain-house, it 
flourishes well, though never seen below the elevation of 
1,800 feet. When standing singly, it forms a perfect 
pyramid of fine dark green foliage, 30 or 40 feet high, 
regularly clothed from the bottom to the top. The leaves, 
about half or three-fourths of an inch long, are silvery 
white on the under surface, though dark green above ; and 
are inserted both on the sides and tops of the branches. It 
is one of the most beautiful evergreens for planting in 
grounds near the house, and is perhaps more cultivated for 
that purpose than any other in the Union. The cones, 
which are four or five inches long, like those of the 
European Silver Fir point upwards. However small the 
plants of this Fir may be, they are still interesting, as they 









t^T^^i' 






i^-" 




r-iXwfiiE; Ji^jSi"* 



Fig. 37. TUo Silver Fir, at the E.-si:l.ni?e of Dr. Johnson. Cxormantown, Pa. 
Agre 57 years, height 100 feet. 



EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 257 

display the same symmetiy as full grown trees. The deep 
green color of the verdure of the Balm of Gilead Fir is 
retained unchanged in all its beauty through the severest 
winters, which causes it to contrast agreeably with the 
paler tints of the Spruces. On the trunks of trees of this 
species are found small vesicles or blisters, filled with a 
liquid resin, which is extracted and sold under the name 
of Balm of Gilead,* for its medicinal virtues. 

The European Silver Fir (A.picea) strongly resembles, 
when young, the Balsam Fir. But its leaves are longer 
and coarser, and the cones are much larger, while it also 
attains twice or three times the size of the latter. In the 
forests of Germany it sometimes rises over 100 feet ; and 
it always becomes a large tree in a favorable soil. It 
grows slowly during the first twenty years, but afterwards 
advances with much more rapidity. It thrives well, and 
is quite hardy in this country. 

The Norway Spruce Fir (A. communis]) is by far the 
handsomest of that division of the Firs called the Spruces. 
It generally rises with a perfectly straight trunk to the 
neight of from 80 to 150 feet. It is a native, as its name 
denotes, of the colder parts of Europe, and consequently 
grows well in the northern states. The branches hang 
down with a fine graceful curve or sweep ; and although 
the leaves are much paler than those of the foregoing 
kinds, yet the thick fringe-like tufts of foliage which clothe 
the branches, give the whole tree a rich, dark appearance. 
The large cones, too, always nearly six inches long, are 

• The trae Balm ot Gilead is an Asiatic herb, Amyris gilcadensi$. 

t Abies excelsa. 

11 



258 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

beautifully pendent, and greatly increase the beauty of an 
old tree of this kind. 

The Norway Spruce is the great tree of the Alps ; and 
as a park tree, to stand alone, we scarcely know a more 
beautiful one. It then generally branches not quite down 
to the ground ; and its fine, sweeping, feathery branches 
hang down in the most graceful and pleasing manner. 
There are some superb specimens of this species in various 
gardens of the middle states, 80 or 100 feet high. 

The Black, or Double Spruce (A. nigra), sometimes also 
called the Red Spruce, is very common in the north ; and, 
according to Michaux, forms a third part of the forests of 
Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, as well as New Bruns- 
wick and Lower Canada. The leaves are quite short and 
stiff, and clothe the young branches ai'ound the whole 
surface ; and the whole tree, where it much abounds, has 
rather a gloomy aspect. In the favorable humid black soils 
of those countries, the Black Spruce grows 70 feet high, 
forming a fine tall pyramid of verdure. But it is rarely 
found in abundance further south, except in swamps, where 
its growth is much less strong and vigorous. Mingled 
with other evergreens, it adds to the variety, and the 
peculiar coloring of its foliage gives value to the livelier 
tints of other species of Pine and Fir. 

The White or Single Spruce (A. alba) is a smaller and 
less common tree than the foregoing, though it is often 
found in the same situations. The leaves are more thinly 
arranged on the young shoots, and they are longer and 
project more from the branches. The color, however, is a 
distinguishing characteristic between the two sorts ; for 
while in the Black Spruce it is very dark, in this species it 



EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 1>59 

;s of a light bluish green tint. The cones are also mucn 
larger on the White Spruce tree. 

The Hemlock Spruce, or, as it is more commonly called, 
ihe Hemlock {A. canadensis), is one of the finest and most 
distinct of this tribe of trees. It is most abundantly 
multiplied in the extreme northern portions of the Union ; 
and abounds more or less, in scattered groups and thickets, 
throughout all the middle states, while at the south it is 
confined chiefly to the mountains. 

It prefers a soil, which, though slightly moist, is less humia 
than that where the Black Spruce succeeds best ; and it 
thrives well in the deep cool shades of mountain valleys. 
In the Highlands of the Hudson it grows in great luxuri- 
ance ; and in one locality, the sides of a valley near Crows 
nest, the surface is covered with the most superb growths 
of this tree, reaching up from the water's edge to the very 
summit of the hill, 1,400 feet high, like a rich and shadowy 
mantle, sprinkled here and there only with the lighter and 
more delicate foliage of deciduous trees. 

The average height of the Hemlock in good soils is about 
70 or 80 feet ; and when standing alone, or in very small 
groups, it is one of the most beautiful coniferous trees. The 
leaves are disposed in two rov»^s on each side of the branches, 
and considerably resemble those of the Yew, though looser 
in texture, and livelier in color. The foliage, when the 
tree has grown to some height, hangs from the branches in 
loose pendulous tufts, which give it a peculiarly graceful 
appearance. When young, the form of the head is 
regularly pyramidal ; but when the tree attains more age, 
it often assumes very irregular and picturesque forms. 



200 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Sometimes it grows up in a thick, dense, dark mass of 
foliage, only varied by the pendulous branches, which 
project beyond the grand mass of the tree ; at others it 
forms a loose, airy, and graceful top, permeable to the 
slightest breeze, and waving its loose tufts of leaves to 
every passing breath of air. In almost all cases, it is 
extremely ornamental, and we regret that it is not more 
generally employed in decorating the grounds of our 
residences. It should be transplanted (like all of this class 
of trees) quite early in the spring, the roots being preserved 
as nearly entire as possible, and not suffered to become the 
least dried, before they are replaced in the soil. 

The uses of the Fir tree are important. The Norway 
Spruce Fir furnishes the white deal timber so extensively 
employed in Europe for all the various purposes of 
building ; and its tall, tapering stems afford fine masts for 
vessels. The Black Spruce timber is also highly valuable, 
and is thought by many persons to surpass in excellence 
that of the Norway Spruce. The young shoots also enter 
into the composition of the celebrated Spruce beer of this 
country, a delightful and very healthful beverage. And 
the Hemlock not only furnishes a vast quantity of the 
joists used in building frame-houses, but supplies the 
tanners with an abundance of bark, which, when mixed 
with that of the oak, is highly esteemed in the preparation 
of leather. 

We regret that the fine evergreen trees both of this 
country and Europe, which compose the Pine and Fir 
tribes, have not hitherto received more of the attention 
of planters. It is inexpressible how much they add to the 



EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 261 

beauty of a country residence in winter. At that season, 
when, during three or four months the landscape is 
bleak and covered with, snow, these noble trees, properly 
intermingled with the groups in view from the window, 
or those surrounding the house, give an appearance of 
verdure and life to the scene which cheats winter of half 
its dreariness. In exposed quarters, also, and in all windy 
and bleak situations, groups of evergreens form the most 
effectual shelter at all seasons of the year, while many 
of them have the great additional recommendation of 
growing upon the most meagre soils. 

In fine country residences abroad, it is becoming 
customary to select some extensive and suitable locality, 
where all the species of Pines and Firs are collected 
together, and allowed to develope themselves in their 
full beauty of proportion. Such a spot is called a Pinetum ; 
and the effect of all the different species growing in the 
same assemblage, and contrasting their various forms, 
heights, and peculiarities, cannot but be strikingly ele- 
gant. One of the largest and oldest collections of this 
kind is the Pinetum of Lord Grenville, at Dropmore, near 
Windsor, England. This contains nearly 100 kinds, 
comprising all the sorts known to English botanists, that 
will endure the open air of their mild climate. The great 
advantage of these Pinetums is, that manv of the more 
delicate species, which if exposed singly would perish, 
thrive well, and become quite naturalized under the shelter 
oi the more hardy and vigorous sorts. 



262 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

The Cedar of Lebanon Tree. Cedrus 

Nat. Ord. Coniferae. Lin. Syst. MoncEcia, Monadelphia 

The Cedar of Lebanon is universally admitted by 
European authors to be the noblest evergreen tree of 
the old world. Its native sites are the elevated valleys 
and ridges of Mount Lebanon and the neighboring heights 
of the lofty groups of Asia Minor. There it once covered 
immense forests, but it is supposed these have never 
recovered from the inroads made upon them by the forty 
score thousand hewers employed by Solomon to procure 
the timber for the erection of the Temple. Modern 
travellers speak of them as greatly diminished in number, 
though there are still specimens measuring thirty-six fe-et 
in circumference. Mount Lebanon is inhabited by nu- 
merous Maronite Christians, who hold annually a 
celebration of the Transfiguration under the shade of 
the existing trees, which they call the " Feast of Cedars."' 

The Cedar of Lebanon is nearly related to the Larch, 
having its leaves collected in parcels like that tree, but 
differs widely in the circumstance of its foliage being 
evergreen. It is remarkable for the wide extension of its 
branches, and the immense surface covered by its 
overshadowing canopy of foliage. In the sacred writings 
it is often alluded to as an emblem of great strength, beauty, 
and duration. "Behold the Assyrian was a Cedar in 
Lebanon, with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, 
and of an high stature ; and his top was among the thick 
boughs. His boughs were multiplied, and his branches 
became long. The fir trees were not like his boughs, nor 




Kr<;. :W.— ( i:iiAR ok Lf,i;an(in. al Wo.idl.-iw ii. m.;u- I'l-iiicoloii. N. ,1. Iloiglil, :i(; feci. 



EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 



263 



the chestnut trees like his branches, nor any tree in the 
garden of God like unto him in beauty."* 

In England the Cedar of Lebanon appears to have 
become quite naturalized. There it is considered by far 
the most ornamental of all the Pine tribe, — possessing, 
when full grown, an air of dignity and grandeur beyond 
any other tree. To attain the fullest beauty of develop- 
ment, it should always stand alone, so that its far-spreading 
horizontal branches can have full room to stretch out and 
expand themselves on every side. Loudon, in his 
Arboretum, gives a representation of a superb specimen 
now growing at Sion House, the seat of the Duke of 
Northumberland, which is 72 feet high, 24 in circum- 
ference, and covers an area, with its huge depending 
branches, of 117 feet. There are many other Cedars in 
England almost equal to this in grandeur. Sir T. D. 
Lauder gives an account of one at Whitton, which blew 
down in 1779: it then measured 70 feet in height, 16 feet 
in circumference, and covered an area of 100 feet in 
diameter. To show the rapidity of the growth of this tree, 
he quotes three Cedars of Lebanon, which were planted at 
Hopetoun House, Scotland, in the year 1748. The mea- 
surement is the circumference of the trunks, and shows 
the rapid increase after they have attained a large size. 





1801. 


1820. 


1825. 


1833. 


Increase in 
32 years. 


First Cedar, 
Second do. 
Third do. 


ft. in. 
10 

8 6 
7 10 


ft. in. 

13 li 

10 9i 

9 9i 


ft. in. 
14 
11 4 
10 8 


ft. in. 

15 1 
12 3 
11 6 


ft. in. 
5 1 
3 9 
3 8 


A Chestnut measured at the same periods, only increasec 


2 7 



Ezekiel xxxi. 



264 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

From the above table, it will be seen how congenial even 
the cold climate of Scotland is to the growth of this tree. 
Indeed in its native soils, the tops of the surrounding hills 
are almost perpetually covei^ed with snow, and it is, there- 
fore, one of the very hardiest of the evergreens of the old 
world. There is no reason why it should not succeed 
admirably in many parts of the United States ; and when 
we consider its great size, fine dark green foliage, and wide 
spreading limbs which 

" Overarching, frame 



Most solemn domes within," 

Shelley. 

as well as the many interesting associations connected 
with it, we cannot but think it better worth our early 
attention, and extensive introduction, than almost any 
other foreign tree. Evergreens are comparatively difficult 
to import, and as we have made the experiment of 
importing Cedars of Lebanon from the English nurseries 
with but indifferent success, we would advise that persons 
attempting its cultivation should procure the cones 
containing the seeds from England, when they may be 
reared directly in our own soil, which will of course be an 
additional advantage to the future growth of the tree.* 

The situations found to be most favorable to this Cedar, 
in the parks and gardens of Europe, are sandy or gravelly 
soils, either with a moist subsoil underneath, or in the 
neighborhood of springs, or bodies of water. In such places 
it is found to advance with a rapidity equal to the Larch. 

» The finest Cedar of Lebanon in the Union, is growing in the grounds of 
T. Ash, Esq., of Westchester Co., N. Y., being 50 feet high and of 
corresponding breadth. It stands near a Purple-leaved Beech, equally large 
and beautiful. 



EVERGREEN ORXAMENTAL TRE33. 265 

one of the fastest growing timber trees, as we have already 
noticed. 

The Deodara, or Indian Cedar (Cedrus Deodara), is a 
magnificent species of this tree, recently introduced from 
the high mountains of Nepal and Indo-Tartary. It stands 
the chmate of Scotland, and appears likely to succeed here 
wherever the Cedar of Lebanon will flourish. In its native 
country it is described as being a lofty and majestic tree, 
frequently attaining the height of 150 feet, with a trunk 30 
feet in circumference. The leaves are larger than those 
of the Cedar of Lebanon, of a deeper bluish green, covered 
with a silvery bloom ; the cones, borne in pairs, are of a 
reddish brown color, and are both longer and broader than 
those of the latter species. In some parts of Upper India 
it is considered a sacred tree (Deodara — tree of God), and 
is only used to burn as incense in days of high ceremony ; 
but in others it is held in the highest esteem as a timber 
tree, having all the good qualities of the Cedar of Lebanon 
— its great durability being attested by its sound state in 
the roofs of temples of that country, which cannot have 
been built less than 200 years. 

We have but just introduced the Deodara into the United 
States, and can therefore say little of its growth or beauty 
here, though we have little doubt that it will prove one of 
the noblest evergreen trees for our pleasure grounds. Lou- 
don says, " the specimens in England are yet small ; but 
the feathery lightness of its spreading branches, and the 
' beautiful glaucous hue of its leaves, render it, even when 
young, one of the most ornamental of the coniferous trees ; 
and all the travellers who have seen it full grown, agree 
that it unites an extraordinary degree of majesty and gran- 
deur with its beauty. The tree thrives in every part of 



266 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Great Britain where it has been tried, even as far north as 
Aberdeen, where, as in many other places, it is found 
hardier than the Cedar of Lebanon. It is readily propa- 
gated by seeds, which preserve their vitality when imported 
in the cones. It also grows freely by cuttings, which appeai 
to make as handsome free-growing plants as those raised 
from seed." The soil and culture for this tree are pre- 
cisely those for the Cedar of Lebanon. 



The Red Cedar Tree. Juniperus. 
Nat. Ord. ConiferaB. Lin. Syst. Dicecia, Monadelphia. 

The Red Cedar is a very common tree, indigenous to 
this country, and growing in considerable abundance from 
Maine to Florida ; but thriving with the greatest luxuriance 
in the sea-board states. When fully grown, the Red Cedar 
is about 40 feet in height, and little more than a foot in 
diameter. The leaves are very small, composed of minute 
scales, and lie pretty close to the branches. Small blue 
berries, borne thickly upon the branches of the female tree? 
in autumn and winter, contain the seeds. These are 
covered with a whitish exudation, and are sometimes used, 
like those of the foreign juniper, in the manufacture of gin. 

The Red Cedar has less to recommend it to the eye than 
most of the evergreens which we have already described. 
The color of the foliage is dull and dingy at many seasons, 
and the form of the young tree is too compactly conical to 
please generally. When old, however, we have seen it 
throw off this formality, and become an interesting, and 
'ndeed a picturesque tree. Then its branches shooting out 



EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 267 

in a horizontal direction, clad with looser and more pendent 
foliage, give the whole tree quite another character. The 
twisted stems, too, when they become aged, have a singular, 
dried-looking, whitish bark, which is quite unique and 
peculiar. There is a very fine natural avenue of Red 
Cedars near.Fishkill landing, in Duchess Co., composed of 
two rows of noble trees 35 or 40 feet high, which is a very 
agreeable walk in winter and early spring. This has given 
the name of Cedar Grove to the country seat in question, 
where the Red Cedar grows spontaneously upon a slate 
subsoil with great luxuriance. There the trees are dis- 
seminated widely by the birds, which feed with avidity 
upon the berries. 

The Red Cedar is well known to every person as one of 
our very best timber trees. It takes its name from the 
reddish hue of the perfect wood. This has a fragrant odor, 
and is not- only light, fine-grained, and close in texture, but 
extremely durable. It is therefore much employed (though 
of late it is becoming scarcer) in conjunction with Live 
oak, which is too heavy alone, in ship-building. It is also 
valued for its great durabihty as posts for fencing; and is 
exported to Europe, to be used in the manufacture of pen- 
cils, and other useful purposes. 



The Arbor Vit.e Tree. Thuja. 

Nat. Ord. Coniferaj. Lin. Syst. Monoecia, Monadelphia. 

The Arbor Vitae {Thuja occidentalis), sometimes also 
called Flat Cedar, or White Cedar, is distinguished from 



208 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

most evergreens by its flat foliage, composed of a greul 
number of scales closely imbricated, or overlaying each 
other, which give the whole a compressed appearance. 
The seeds are borne in a small cone, usually not more than 
half an inch in length. 

This tree is extremely formal and regular in outline 
in almost every stage of growth ; generally assuming the. 
shape of an exact cone or pyramid of close foliage, of con- 
siderable extent at the base, close to the ground, and nar- 
rowing upwards to a sharp point. So regular is their 
outline in many cases, when they are growing upon 
favorable soils, that at a short distance they look as if they 
had been subjected to the clipping-shears. The sameness 
of its form precludes the employment of this evergreen in 
so extensive a manner as most others ; that is, in inter- 
mingling it promiscuously with other trees of less artificial 
forms. But the Arbor Vitoe, from this very regularity, is 
well suited to support and accompany scenery when objects 
of an avowedly artificial character predominate, as buildings, 
etc., where it may be used with a very happy effect. There 
is also no evergreen tree indigenous or introduced, which 
will make a more effectual, close, and impervious screen 
than this : and as it thrives well in almost every soil, moist, 
dry, rich, or poor, we strongly recommend it whenever 
such thickets are desirable. We have ourselves tried the 
experiment with a hedge of it about 200 feet long, which 
was transplanted about five or six feet high from the native 
hahitats of the young trees, and which fully answers our 
expectations respecting it, forming a perfectly thick sci-een, 
and an excellent shelter on the north of a range of buildings 
at all seasons of the year, growing perfectly thick without 
trimming, from the very ground upwards. 



EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 2G9 

The only fault of this tree as an evergreen, is the 
comparatively dingy green hue of its foliage in winter 
But to compensate for this, it is remarkably fresh looking 
in its spring, summer, and autumn tints, comparing well at 
those seasons even with the bright verdure of deciduous 
trees. 

The Arbor Vitee is very abundant in New Brunswick, 
Vermont, and Maine. In New York, the shores of the 
Hudson, at Hampton landing, 70 miles above the city of 
New York, are lined on both sides with beautiful speci 
mens of this tree, many of them being perfect cones in 
outline ; and it is here much more symmetrical and perfect 
in its growth than we have seen it. Forty feet is about 
the maximum altitude of the Arbor Vitse, and the stem 
rarely measures more than ten or twelve inches in 
diameter. 

The wood is very light, soft, and fine-grained, but is 
reputed to be equally durable with the Red Cedar. It 
is consequently employed for various purposes in build- 
ing and fencing, where, in the northern districts, it 
grows in sufficient abundance, and of suitable size. 

The Chinese Arbor Vitse {T. orientalis) is a tree of 
much smaller and more feeble growth. It cannot, 
therefore, as an ornamental tree, be put in competition 
with our native species. Bnt it is a beautiful evergreen 
for the garden and shrubbery, where it finds a more 
suitable and sheltered site, being rather tender north of 
New York. 

The White Cedar {Thuja spheroida*), which belongs 
to the same genus as the Arbor Vitce, is a much loftiei 

* Cupressus thuyoides of the old botanists. 



270 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

tree, often growing 80 feet high. It can hardly be 
considered a ti'ee capable of being introduced into 
cultivated situations, as it is found only in thick swamps 
and wet grounds. The foliage considerably resembles 
that of the common Arbor Vitae, though rather narrower 
and more delicate in texture. The cones are small and 
rugged, and change from green to a blue or brown tint in 
autumn. In the south it is often called the Juniper. 

The White Cedar furnishes excellent shingles, much 
more durable than those made of either Pine or Cypress ; 
in Philadelphia the wood is much esteemed and greatly 
used in cooperage. " Charcoal," according to Michaux, 
" highly esteemed in the manufacture of gunpowder, is 
made of young stocks, about an inch and a half in 
diameter, deprived of their bark ; and the seasoned wood 
affords beautiful lamp-black, lighter and more intensely 
colored than that obtained from the Pine." 



The American Holly Tree. Ilex. 
Nat. Ord. Aquifoliaceae. Lin. Syst. DicEcia, Tetrandria. 

The European Holly is certainly one of the evergreen 
glories of the English gardens. There its deep green, 
glossy foliage, and bright coral berries, which hang on for 
a long time, are seen enlivening the pleasure-grounds and 
shrubberies throughout the whole of that leafless and 
inactive period in vegetation — winter. It is also, in our 
mother tongue, inseparably connected with the delightful 
associations of merry Christmas gambols and feastings, 
when both the churches and the dwelling-houses are 



EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 271 

decorated with its boughs. We have much to regret, 
therefore, in the severity of our winters, which will not 
permit the European Holly to flourish in the middle or 
eastern states, as a hardy tree. South of Philadelphia, it 
may become acclimated ; but it appears to suffer greatly 
further north. 

A beautiful succedaneum, however, jnay, we believe, be 
found in the American Holly {Ilex opaca), which indeed 
very closely resembles the foreign species in almost every 
particular. The leaves are waved or irregular in surface 
and outline, though not so much so as those of the latter, 
and their color is a much lighter shade of green. Like 
those of the foreign plant, they are armed on the edges 
with thorny prickles, and the surface is brilliant and 
polished. The American Holly is seen in the greatest 
perfection on the eastern shore of Maryland and Virginia, 
and the lower part of New Jersey. There it thrives 
best upon loose, dry, and gravelly soils. Michaux says 
it is also common through all the extreme southern states, 
and in West Tennessee, in which latter places it abounds 
on the margins of shady swamps, where the soil is cool 
and fertile. In such spots it often reaches forty feet in 
height, and twelve or fifteen inches in diameter. 

Although the growth of the Holly is slow, yet it is 
always beautiful ; and wt regret that the American sort, 
which may be easily brought into cultivation, is so very 
rarely seen in our gardens or grounds. The seeds are 
easily procured, and if scalded and sowed in autumn, 
immediately after being gathered, they vegetate freely. 
For hedges the Holly is altogether unrivalled ; and it was 
also one of the favorite plants for verdant sculpture, in the 
ancient style of gardening. Evelyn, in the edition of his 



272 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Sylva, published in London in 1664, thus bursts out in 
eloquent praise of it : " Above all natural greens which 
enrich our home-born store, there is none certainly to be 
compared to the Holly ; insomuch that I have often 
wondered at our curiosity after foreign plants and expen 
sive difficulties, to the neglect of the culture of this vulgar 
but incomparable tree, — whether we will propagate it for 
use and defence, or for sight and ornament. Is there 
under heaven a more glorious and refreshing object of the 
kind, than an impregnable hedge of one hundred and 
sixty-five feet in length, seven high, and five in diameter, 
which I can show in my poor gardens, at any time of the 
year, glittering with its armed and varnished leaves ? The 
taller standards at orderly distances blushing with their 
natural coral. It mocks the rudest assaults of the weather, 
beasts, or hedge-breaker : — 

' Et ilium nemo impune lacessit.' " 



The Yew Tree. Taxus. 
Nat. Ord. Taxaceae. Lin. Syst. MoncEcia, Monadelphia. 

The European Yew is a slow-growing, evergreen tree, 
which often, when full grown, measures forty feet in height, 
and a third more in the diameter of its branches. The 
foliage is flat, linear, and is placed in two rows, like that of 
the Hemlock tree, though much darker in color. The 
flowers are brown or greenish, and inconspicuous, but they 
are succeeded by beautiful scarlet berries, about half or 
three-fourths of an inch in diameter, which are open at 
the end, where a small nut or seed is deposited. These 



EVERGEEEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 273 

oerries have an exquisitely delicate, waxen appearance, 
and contribute highly to the beauty of the tree. 

The growth of this tree, even in its native soil, is by no 
means rapid. In twenty years, says Loudon, it will attain 
the height of fifteen or eighteen feet, and it will continue 
growing for one hundred years ; after which it becomes 
comparatively stationary, but will live many centuries. 

When young, the Yew is rather compact and bushy in 
its form ; but as it grows old, the foliage spreads out in fine 
horizontal masses, the outline of the tree is irregularly 
varied, and the whole ultimately becomes highly venerable 
and picturesque. When standing alone, it generally shoots 
out into branches at some three or four feet above the 
surface of the ground, and is ramified into a great number 
of close branches. 



^^. 
^^#, 




[Fig V Th( 1 nglish Ycu J 



In England, it has been customary, since the earliest 
settlement of that island by the Britons, to plant the Yew 
in churchyards ; and it is therefore as decidedly conse- 
crated to this purpose there, as the Cypress is in the south 



274 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

o( Europe. For the decoration of pkices of burial it is 
well adapted, from the deep and perpetual verdure of its 
foliage, which, conjointly with its great longevity, may be 
3onsidered as emblematical of immortality. 

The Yew, like the Holly, makes an excellent evergreen 
hedge — close, dark green, and beautiful when clad in the 
rich scarlet berries. We desire, however, rather to see 
this tree naturalized in our gardens and lawns as an 
evergreen tree of the first class, than in any other form. 
Judging from specimens which we have growing in our 
own grounds, we should consider it quite hardy anywhere 
south of the 41° of latitude. And although it is somewhat 
slow in its growth, yet, like many other evergreens, it is as 
beautiful when a small bush or a thrifty young tree, as it is 
venerable and picturesque when ages or even centuries 
have witnessed its never failing verdure. It appears to 
grow most vigorously and thrive best on a rich and heavy 
soil, and in situations rather shaded than exposed to a 
burning sun. 

There are several beautiful varieties of the Yew {Taxus 
haccata) cultivated in the nurseries; the Irish Yew (T. h. 
fastigiata), remarkable for its dark green foliage, and vei*y 
handsome, upright growth, and the Yellow berried Yew 
(T. h.fructo-Jlava), are the most ornamental. 

The North American Yew (T. canadensis) is a low 
trailing shrub, scarcely rising above the heiglit of four or 
six feet, though the branches extend to a considerable 
distance. In foliage, berries, etc., it so strongly resembles 
the European plant, that many botanists consider it only a 
dwarf variety. The leaves are nevertheless shorter and 
narrower, and the male flowers always solitary It is 
found in shady, rocky places, in the Highlands, and various 
other localities Trom Canada to Virginia 



VINES .AND CLIMBING PLANTS. 



275 



SECTION VI. 



VIN^ES AND CLIMBING PLANTS. 



Valne of this kind of Vegetation. Fine natural effects. The European Ivy. Th"" 
Virginia Creeper. The Wild Grape Vine. The Bittersweet. The Trumpet Creeper. 
The Pipe Vine, and the Clematis. The Wistarias. The Honeysuckles and Wood- 
bines. The Jasmine and the Periploca. Remarks on the proper mode of introducing 
vines. Beautiful effects of climbing plants in connexion with buildings. 

Quite over-canopied with lush woodbine. 
With sweet musk roses, and with eglantine. 

Shaesfeare. 




I N E S and climbing plants are 
objects full of interest for the Land- 
scape Gardener, for they seem 
endowed with the characteristics 
of the graceful, the beautiful, and 
the picturesque, in their luxuriant 
and ever-varying forms. When judiciously introduced, 
therefore, nothing can so easily give a spirited or graceful 
air to a fine or even an ordinary scene, as the various 
plants which compose this group of the vegetable kingdom. 
We refer particularly now to those which have woody 
and perennial stems, as all annual or herbaceous stemmed 
plants are too short-lived to afford any lasting or 
permanent addition to the beauty of the lawn or plea- 
sure-ground. • 



276 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Climbing plants may be classed among the adventitious 
heauties of trees. Who has not often witnessed with 
delight in our native forests, the striking beauty of a noble 
tree, the old trunk and fantastic branches of which were 
enwreathed with the luxuriant and pliant shoots and rich 
foliage of some beautiful vine, clothing even its decayed 
limbs with verdure, and hanging down in gay festoons or 
loose negligent masses, waving to and fro in the air. The 
European Ivy {Hedcra Helix) is certainly one of the 
finest, if not the very finest climbing plant (or more 
properly, creeping vine, for by means of its little fibres or 
rootlets on the stems, it will attach itself to trees, walks, 
or any other substance), with which we are acquainted. 
It possesses not only very fine dark green palmated foliage 
in ffreat abundance, but the foliao;e has that agreeable 
property of being evergreen, — which, while it enhances 
its value tenfold, is at the same time so rare among vines. 
The yellow flowers of the Ivy are great favorites with 
bees, from their honied sweetness ; they open in autumn, 
and the berries ripen in the spring. When planted at the 
root of a tree, it will often, if the head is not too thickly 
clad with branches, ascend to the very topmost limbs ; 
and its dark green foliage, wreathing itself about the old 
and furrowed trunk, and hanging in careless drapery from 
the lower branches, adds greatly to the elegance of even 
fhe most admirable tree. Spenser describes the appear- 
ance of the Ivy growing to the tops of the trees, 

" Emongst the rest, the clamb'ring Ivie grew, 
Knitting his wanton arms with grasping hold, 
Lest that the poplar happely should renew 
Her brother's strokes, whose bouglis she doth enlbid 
With her lythe twigs, till they the top survew, 
And paint with pallid green her buds of gold." 



VINES AND CLIMBING PLANTS. 277 

The fine contrasts between the dark coloring ot the 
leaves of the Ivy, and the vernal and autumnal tints of 
the foliage of deciduous trees, are also highly pleasing. 
Indeed this fine climbing plant may be turned to advantage 
in another way ; in reclothing dead trees with verdure 
Sir T. D. Lauder says, that " trees often die from causes 
which we cannot divine, and there is no one who is 
master of extensive woods, who does not meet with many 
such instances of unexpected and unaccountable mortality. 
Of such dead individuals we have often availed ourselves, 
and by planting Ivy at their roots, we have converted 
them into more beautiful objects than they were when 
arrayed in their own natural foliage." 

The Ivy is not only ornamental upon trees, but it is 
also remarkably well adapted to ornament cottages, and 
even large mansions, when allowed to grow upon the 
walls, to which it will attach itself so firmly by the little 
rootlets sent out from the branches, that it is almost 
impossible to tear it off'. On wooden buildings, it may 
perhaps be injurious, by causing them to decay ; but on 
stone buildings, it fastens itself firmly, and holds both 
stone and mortar together like a coat of cement. The 
thick garniture of foliage with which it covers the surface, 
excludes stormy weather, and has, therefore, a tendency 
to preserve the walls, rather than accelerate their decay. 
This vine is the inseparable accompaniment of the old 

The Ivy is not a native of America ; nor is it by any 
means a very common plant in our gardens, though we 
know of no apology for the apparent neglect of so beautiful 
a climber. It is hardy south of the latitude of 42°, and we 
have seen it thriving in great luxuriance as far north as 
Hyde Park, on the Hudson, eighty miles above New York. 
One of the most beautiful growths of this plant, which has 



278 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

ever met our eyes, is that upon the old mansion in the 
Botanic Garden at Philadelphia, built by the elder Bartram, 
That picturesque and quaint stone building is beautifully 
overrun by the most superb mantle of Ivy, that no one who 
has once seen can fail to remember with admiration. The 
dark grey of the stone- work is finely opposed by the rich 
verdure of the plant, which falls away in openings here and 
there, around the windows, and elsewhere. It never thrives 
well if suffered to ramble alono; the ground, but needs the 
support of a tree, a frame, or a wall, to which it attaches 
itself firmly, and grows with vigorous shoots. Bare walls 
or fences may thus be clothed with verdure and beauty 
equal to the living hedge, in a very short period of time, by 
planting young Ivy roots at the base. 

The most desirable varieties of the common Ivy are : the 
Irish Ivy, with much larger foliage than the common sort, 
and more rapid in its growth ; the Silver-striped and the 
Gold-striped leaved Ivy, both of which, though less vigorous, 
are much admired for the singular color of their leaves. 
The common English Ivy is more hardy than the others 
in our climate. 

Although, as we have said, the Ivy is not a native of this 
country, yet we have an indigenous vine, which, at least 
in summer, is not inferior to it. We refer to the Virginia 
Creeper {Ampelopsis hederacea), which is often called the 
American Ivy. The leaves are as large as the hand, 
deeply divided into five lobes, and the blossoms are suc- 
ceeded by handsome, dark blue berries. The Virginia 
Creeper is a most luxuriant grower, and we have seen it 
climbing to the extremities of trees 70 or 80 feet in height. 
Like the Ivy it attaches itself to whatever it can lay hold 
of, oy the little rootlets which spring out of the branches • 



• VINES AND CLIMBING PLA.VTS. 279 

and its foliage, when it clothes thickly a high wall, or folds 
Itself in clustering wreaths around the trunk and branches 
of an open tree, is extremely handsome and showy. Al- 
though the leaves are not evergreen, like those of the Ivy, 
yet in autumn they far surpass those of that plant in the 
rich and gorgeous coloring which they then assume. 
Numberless trees may be seen in the country by the road 
side, and in the woods, thus decked in autumn in the 
borrowed glories of the Virginia Creeper ; but we particu- 
larly remember two as being remarkably striking objects ; 
one, a wide-spread elm — the trunk and graceful diverging 
branches completely clad in scarlet by this beautiful vine, 
with wiiich its own leaves harmonized well in their fine 
deep yellow dress ; the other, a tall and dense Cedar, through 
whose dark green boughs gleamed the rich coloring of the 
Virginia Creeper, like a half-concealed, though glowing 
lire 

In the American forests nothing adds more to the beauty 
of an occasional tree, than the tall canopy of verdure with 
which it is often crowned by the wild Grape vine. There 
its tall stems wind themselves about until they reach the 
very summit of the tree, where they cluster it over, and 
bask their broad bright green foliage in the sunbeams. As 
if not content with this, they often completely overhang the 
head of the tree, falling like ample drapery around on every 
side, until they sweep the ground. We have ^ seen very 
beautiful effects produced in this way by the grape in its 
wild state, and it may easily be imitated. The delicious 
fragrance of these wild grape vines when in blossom, is 
unsurpassed in delicacy ; and we can compare it to nothing 
but the delightful perfume which exhales from a huge bed 
of Mignonette in full bloom. The Bittersweet {Celastrus 



280 LANDSCAPi: GARDENING. 

scandens) is another well known climber, which oi*naments 
our wild trees. Its foliage is very bright and shining, and 
the orange-colored seed-vessels which burst open, and dis- 
play the crimson seeds in winter, are quite ornamental. It 
winds itself very closely around the stem, however, and we 
have known it to strangle or compress the bodies of young 
trees so tightly as to put an end to their growth. 

The Trumpet Creeper {Bignonia radicans) is a very 
picturesque climbing plant. The stem is quite woody, and 
often attains considerable size ; the branches, like those of 
the Ivy and Virginia Creeper, fasten themselves by the 
roots thrown out. The leaves are pinnated, and the 
flowers, which are borne in terminal clusters on the ends 
of the young shoots about midsummer, are exceedingly 
showy. They are tubes five or six inches long, shaped like 
a trumpet, opening at the extremity, of a fine scarlet color 
on the outside, and orange within. The Trumpet Creeper 
is a native of Virginia, Carolina, and the states further 
south, where it climbs up the loftiest trees. It is a great 
favorite in the northern states as a climbing plant, and very 
beautiful effects are sometimes produced by planting it at 
the foot of a tall-stemmed tree, which it will completel}' 
surround with a pillar of verdure, and render very orna- 
mental by its little shoots, studded with noble blossoms. 

One of the most singular and picturesque climbing shrubs 
or plants which we cultivate, is the Pipe-vine, or Birthvvort 
(AjHstolnchia sipho). It is a native of the Alleghany moun 
tains, and is one of the tallest of twining plants, growing 
on the trees there to the height of 90 or 100 feet, though 
in gardens it is often kept down to a frame of four or five 
feet high. The leaves are of a noble size, being eight or 
nine inches broad, and heart-shaped in outline. The 



VINES AND CLIMBING PLANTS. 281 

flowers, about an inch or a little more in length, are very 
singular. They are dark yellow, spotted with brown, in 
shape like a bent siphon-like tube, which opens at the ex- 
trem'ty, the whole flower resembling, as close as possible, 
a very small Dutchman's pipe, whence the vine is frequently 
so called by the country people. It flowers in the begin- 
ning of summer, and the foliage, during the whole growing 
season, has a very rich and luxuriant appearance. Aristo- 
locliia tomentosa is a smaller species, with leaves and 
flowers of less size, the former downy or hairy on the under 
surface. 

The various kinds of Clematis, though generally kept 
within the precincts of the garden, are capable of adding 
to the interest of the pleasure ground, when they are 
planted so as to support themselves on the branches of 
trees. The common White Clematis or Virgin's Bower 
(C virginica) is one of the strongest growing kinds, often 
embellishing wdth its pale white blossoms, the whole 
interior and even the very tops of our forest trees in 
the middle states. After these have fallen, they are 
succeeded by large tufts of brown, hairy-like plumes, 
appendages to the clusters of seeds, which give the whole 
a very unique and interesting look. The Wild Atragene, 
with large purple flowers, which blossom early, has much 
the same habit as the Clematis, to which, indeed, it is nearly 
related. Among the finest foreign species of this genus 
are, the Single and Double-flowered purple Clematis 
(C viticella and its varieties), which, though slender in their 
stems, run to considerable height, are very pretty, and 
blossom profusely. The sweet scented and the Japan 
Clematis (C jiammula and C Jlorida), the former 
very fragrant, and the latter beautiful, are perhaps too 



2S2 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

tender, except for the garden, where they are highl}' 
prized. 

The Glycine or Wistaria (Wistaria pubescens) is a 
very beautiful climbing plant, and adds much to the 
gracefulness of trees, when trained so as to hang from 
.heir lower branches. The leaves are pinnate, and the 
light purple flowers, which bloom in loose clusters like 
those of the Locust, are universally admired. The 
Chinese Wistaria (TV. sinensis) is a very elegant species 
of this plant, which appears to be quite hardy here ; and 
when loaded with its numerous large clusters of pendent 
blossoms, is highly ornamental. It grows rapidly, and, 
with but little care, will mount to a great height. These 
vines with pinnated foliage, would be remarkal*ly 
appropriate when climbing up, and hanging from the 
branches of such light airy trees as the Three-thorned 
Acacia, the Locust, etc. 

We must not forget to enumerate here the charming 
family of the Honeysuckles ; some of them are natives of 
the old world, some of our own continent ; and all of them 
are common in our gardens, where they are universally 
prized for their beauty ^nd fragrance. In their native 
localities they grow upon trees, and trail along the rocks. 
The species which ascends to the greatest height, is the 
common European Woodbine,* which twines around the 
stems, and hangs from the ends of the longest branches of 
trees : 

" As Woodbine weds the plant within her reach, 
/ Rough Ehn, or smooth-grained Ash, or glossy Beech, 

In spiral rings ascends the trunk, and lays 
Her golden tassels on the leafy sprays." 

CoWPER. 

* Woodbind is the original name, derived from the habit of the plant ol 
winding itself around trees, and binding the branches together. 



VINES AND CLIMBING PLANTS. 283 

The Woodbine (Lonicera periclymenum) has separate, 
opposite leaves, and buff-colored or paler yellow and red 
blossoms. There is a variety, the common monthly 
Woodbine, which produces its flowers all summer, and is 
much the most valuable plant. Another {L. p. belgicum), 
the Dutch Honeysuckle, blossoms quite early in spring ; 
and a third (L. p. quercifolium) has leaves shaped like 
those of the oak tree. 

The finest of our native sorts are the Red and Yellow 
trumpet Honeysuckle {L. sempervirens and L. jlava), 
which have the terminal leaves on each branch joined 
together at the base, or perfoliate, making a single leaf. 
They blossom in the greatest profusion during the whole 
summer and autumn, and their rich blossom tubes, sprinkled 
in numerous clusters over the exterior of the foliage, as 
well as an abundance of scarlet berries in autumn, entitle 
them to high regard. There is also a very strong and 
vigorous species, called the Orange pubescent Honeysuckle 
(L. pubescens), with large, hairy, ciliate leaves, and fine 
large tawny or orange-colored flowers. It is a very 
luxuriant plant in its habit, and a very distinct species to 
the eye. All these native sorts have but very slight 
fragrance. 

The Chinese twining Honeysuckle (L. Jlexuosa) is 
certamly one of the finest of the genus. In the form of 
the leaf it much resembles the common Woodbine ; but 
the foliage is much darker colored, and is also sub-ever- 
green, hanging on half the winter, and in sheltered spots, 
even till spring. It blossoms when the plant is old, several 
times during the summer, bearing an abundance of 
beautiful flowers, open at the mouth, red outside, and 
striped with red, white, or yellow within. It grows 



284 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

remarkably fast, climbing to the very summit of trees in a 
short time ; and the flowers, which first appear in June, 
are deliciously fragrant. In all its varieties the Honey- 
suckle is a charming plant, either to adorn the porch of the 
cottage, the latticed bower of the garden — to both of which 
spots they are especially dedicated — or to climb the stem 
of the old forest tree, where — 

" With clasping tendrils it invests the branch, 
Else unadorn'd, with many agay festoon. 
And fragrant chaplet ; recompensing well 
The strength it borrows with the grace it lends." 

There it diffuses through the air a delicious breath, that 
renders a walk beneath the shade of the tall trees doubly 
delightful, while its flowers give a gaiety and brightness 
to the park, which forest trees, producing usually but 
inconspicuous blossoms, could not alone impart. 

Some of the climbing Roses are very lovely objects in 
the pleasure-grounds. Many of them, at the north, as the 
Multifloras, Noisettes, etc., require some covering in the 
winter, and are therefore better fitted for the garden. At 
the south, where they are quite hardy, they are, however, 
most luxuriant and splendid objects. But there are two 
classes of Roses that are perfectly hardy climbers, and 
may therefore be employed with great advantage by the 
Landscape Gardener — the Michigan and the Boursalt trees. 
The single Michigan is a most compact and vigorous 
grower, and often, in its wild haunts in the west, clambers 
over the tops of tall forest trees, and decks them with its 
abundant clusters of pale purple flowers. There are now 
in our gardens several beautiful double varieties of this, 
and among them, one, called Beauty of the Prairies, is 



VINES AND CLIMBING PLANTS. 285 

most admired for its large rich buds and blossoms of a deep 
rose color. 

The Bom-salt roses are remarkable for their profusion of 
flowers, and for their shining, reddish stems, with few 
thorns. The common Purple or Crimson Boursalt is quite 
a wonder of beauty in the latter part of May, when trained 
on the wall of a cottage, being then literally covered with 
blossoms ; and it is so hardy that scarcely a branch is ever 
injured by the cold of winter. The Blush and the Elegans 
are still richer and finer varieties of this class of roses, all 
of which are well worthy of attention. 

We have to regret that the inclemency of our winters 
will not permit us to cultivate the White European 
Jasmine {Jasminum oficinale) out of the garden, as even 
there it requires a slight protection in winter. Below the 
latitude of Philadelphia, however, it will probably succeed 
well. In the southern states they have a most lovely plant, 
the Carolina Jasmine (Gelseminujn), which hangs its 
beautiful yellow flowers on the very tree tops, and the 
woods there in spring are redolent with their perfume. 

The connoisseur in vines will not forget the curious 
Periploca, which grows very rapidly to the height of 40 
or 50 feet, and bears numerous branches of very curious 
brown or purple flowers in summer; or the Double- 
blossoming Brambles, both pink and white, which often 
make shoots of 20 or 30 feet long in a season, and bear 
pretty clusters of double flowers in June. All these fine 
climbers, and several others to be found in the catalogues, 
may, in the hands of a person of taste, be made to 
contribute in a wonderful degree to the variety, elegance, 
and beauty of a country residence ; and to neglect to 
introduce them would be to refuse the aid of some of the 



286 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

most beautiful accessories that are capable of being com 
bined with trees, as well as with buildings, gardens, and 
fences. 

The reader must not imagine, from the remarks which 
we have here made on the beauty and charms of climbing 
plants, that we would desire to see every tree in an 
extensive park wreathed about, and overhung with fantastic 
vines and creepers. Such is by no means our intention. 
We should consider such a proceeding something in the 
worst possible taste. There are some trees whose rugged 
and ungraceful foifms would refuse all such accompani- 
ment ; and others from whose dignity and majesty it would 
be improper to detract even by adding the gracefulness of the 
loveliest vine. 

Although we are not now writing of buildings, it is not 
inappropriate here to remark how much may be done in 
the country, and indeed even in town, by using vines and 
creepers to decorate buildings. The cottage in this country 
too rarely conveys the idea of comfort and happiness which 
we wish to attach to such a habitation, and chiefly because 
so often it stands bleak, solitary, and exposed to every ray 
of our summer sun, with a scanty robe of foliage to shelter 
it. How different such edifices, however humble, become 
when the porch is overhung with climbing plants. 

Almost every man feels prouder of his home when it is 
a pleasant spot for the eye to rest upon, than when it is 
situated in a desert, or overgrown with weeds. Besides 
this, tasteful embellishment has a tendency to refine the 
feelings of every member of the family ; and every leisure 
hour spent in rendering more lovely and agreeable even 
the humblest cottage, is infinitely better employed than in 
ounging about in idle and useless dissipation. 



TREATMENT OF GROUND. FORMATION OF WALKS. 2S7 



SECTION VII. 

TREATMENT OF GROUND. FORMATION OF WALKS. 

Nature of operations on Ground. Treatment of flowing and irregular surfaces tn 
heighten their expression ; flats, or level surfaces. Rocks, as materials In Landscai)e. 
Laying out Roads and Walks : Directions for the Approach : Rules by Reptoii. The 
Drive, and minor walks. The Introduction of fences and verdant hedges 

" Strength may wield the ponderous spade, 



May turn the clod and wheel the compost home ; 
But elegance, chief grace the garden shows. 
And most attractive, is the fair result 
Of thought, the creature of a polished mind." 



COWPER. 




ROUND is undoubtedly the most un- 
wieldy and ponderous material that comes 
under the care of the Landscape Gardener. 
It is not only difficult to remove, the 
operations of the leveller rarely extending below two or 
three feet of the surface ; but the effect produced by a 
given quantity of labor expended upon it, is generally 
much less than when the same has been bestowed in 
the formation of plantations, or the erection of buildings. 
The achievements of ar^ upon ground appear so trifling, 
too, when we behold the apparent facility with which 
nature has arranged it in such a variety of forms, that 
the former sink into insignificance when compared with 
the latter. 

For these reasons, the operations to be performed 



288 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

upon ground in this country, will generally be limited 
to the neighborhood of the house, or the scenery dii'ectly 
under the eye. Here, by judicious levelling and smooth- 
ing in some cases, or by raising gentle eminences with 
interposing hollows in others, much may be done at a 
moderate expense, to improve the beauty of the surround- 
ing landscape. 

Roads and walks are so directly connected with opera- 
tions on the surface of the ground, and with the disposition 
of plantations, which we have already made familiar to the 
reader, that we shall introduce in this place a few remarks 
relative to their direction and formation. 

The Approach is by far the most important of these 
routes. It is the private road, leading from the public 
highway, directly to the house itself. It should therefore 
bear a proportionate breadth and size, and exhibit marks 
of good keeping, in accordance with the dignity of the 
mansion. 

In the ancient style of gardening, the Approach was so 
formed as to enter directly in front of the house, affording 
a full view of that portion of the edifice, and no other. A 
line drawn as directly as possible, and evenly bordered on 
each side with a tall avenue of trees, was the whole 
expenditure of art necessary in its formation. It is true, 
the simplicity of design was often more th:;in counter- 
balanced by the difficulty of levelling, grading, and altering 
the surface, necessary to please the geometric eye ; but the 
rules were as plain and unchangeable, as the lines were 
parallel and undeviating. 

In the present more advanced state of Landscape 
Gardening, the formation of the Approach has become 
equally a matter of artistical skill with other details of the 
art. The house is generally so approached, that the eye 
shall first meet it in an angular direction, disnlaying nor. 



TAKAIMEXT OF GROUND.— FORMATION OF WALKS. 289 

only the beauty of the architectural facade but also one 
of the end elevations, thus giving a more complete idea of 
tile size, character, or elegance of the building : and 
instead of leading in a direct line from the gate to the 
house, it curves in easy lines through certain portions of 
the park or lawn, until it reaches that object. 

If the point where the Approach is to start from the 
highway be not already determmed past alteration, it 
should be so chosen as to afford a sufficient drive through 
tiie grounds before arriving at the house, to give the 
stranger some idea of the extent of the whole property : to 
allow an agreeable diversity of surface over which to lead 
it : and lastly in such a manner as not to interfere with the 
convenience of ready access to and from the mansion. 

This point being decided, and the other being the man- 
sion and adjacent buildings, it remains to lay out the road 
in such gradual curves as will appear easy and graceful, 
without verging into rapid turns or formal stiffness. Since 
the modern style has become partially known and adopted 
here, some persons appear tf) have supposed that nature 
" has a horror of straight lines," and consequently, 
believing that they could not possibly err, they immediately 
ran into the other extreme, fillino; their grounds with zig;- 
zag and regularly serpentine roads, still more horrible : 
which can only be compared to the contortions of a 
wounded snake dragging its way slowly over the earth. 

There are two guiding principles which have been laid 
down for the formation of Approach roads. The first, that 
the curves should never be so great, or lead over surfaces 
so unequal, as to make it disagreeable to drive upon them ; 
and the second, that the road should never curve without 
some reason, either real or apparent. 



290 LANDSCAPE GARUENING. 

The most natural method of forming a winding Approac'j 
where the ground is gently undulating, is to follow, in some 
degree, tiie depressions of surface, and to curve round the 
eminences. This is an excellent method, so long as it does 
not lead us in too circuitous a direction, nor, as we before 
hinted, make the road itself too uneven. When either o^ 
these happens, the easy, gradual flow of the curve in the 
proper direction, must* be maintained by levelling or 
grading, to produce the proper surface. 

Nothing can be more unmeaning than to see an Ap- 
proach, or any description of road, winding hither and 
thither, through an extensive level lawn, towards the 
house, without the least apparent reason for the curves. 
Happily, we are not, therefore, obliged to return to the 
straight line ; but gradual curves may always be so ar- 
ranged as to appear necessarily to wind round the groups of 
trees, which otherwise would stand in the way. Wherevei 
a bend in the road is intended, a cluster or group of 
greater or less size and breadth, proportionate to the 
curve, should be placed in the projection formed. These 
trees, as soon as they attain some size, if they are properly 
arranged, we may suppose to have originally stood there, 
and the road naturally to have curved, to avoid destroying 
them. 

This arrangement of trees borderina; an extended 
Approach road, in connexion with the various other 
groups, masses, and single trees, in the adjacent lawn, will 
ill most cases have the effect of concealing the house from 
the spectator approaching it, except, perhaps, from one or 
two points. It has, therefore, been considered a matter 
worthy of consideration, at what point or points the first 



TIIEATMENT OF GROUND. FORMATION OF WALKS. 291 

view of the house shall be obtained. If seen at too great 
a distance, as in the case of a large estate, it may appeal 
more diminutive and of less magnitude than it should ; or, 
if first viewed at some other position, it may strike the 
eye of a stranger, at that point, unfavorably. The best, 
and indeed the only way to decide the -matter, is to go 
over the whole ground covered by the Approach route 
carefully, and select a spot or spots sufficiently near tc 
give the most favorable and striking view of the house 
itself. This, if openings are to be made, can only be done 
in winter ; but when the ground is to be newly planted, it 
may be prosecuted at any season. 

The late Mr. Repton, who was one of the most cele- 
brated English practical landscape gardeners, has laid 
down in one of his works, the following rules on the 
subject, which we quote, not as applying in all cases, but 
to show what are generally thought the principal requisites 
of this road in the modern style. 

First. It ought to be a road to the house, and to that 
principally. 

Secondly. If it be not naturally the nearest road 
possible, it ought artificially to be made to appear so. 

Thirdly. The artificial obstacles which make this road 
the nearest, ought to appear natural. 

Fourthly. Where an approach quits the high road, it 
ought not to break from it at right angles, or in such a 
manner as to rob the entrance of importance, but rather 
at some bend of the public road, from which a lodge or 
gate may be more conspicuous ; and where the high road 
may appear to branch from the approach, rather than the 
approach from the high road. 



292 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Fifthly. After the approach enters the park, it should 
avoid skirting along its boundary, which betrays the want 
of extent or unity of property. 

Sixthly. The house, unless very large and magnificent, 
should not be seen at so great a distance as to make it 
appear much less than it really is. 

Seventhly. The first view of the house should be from 
the most pleasing point of sight. 

Eighthly. As soon as the house is visible from the 
approach, there should be no tempfation to quit it (which 
will ever be the case if the road be at all circuitous), 
unless sufficient obstacles, such as water or inaccessible 
ground, appear to justify its course.* 

Although there are many situations where these rules 
must be greatly modified in practice, j^et the improver will 
do well to bear them in mind, as it is infinitely more easy 
to make occasional deviations from general rules, than to 
carry out a tasteful improvement without any guiding 
principles. 

There are many fine country residences on the banks of 
the Hudson, Connecticut, and other rivers, where the pro- 
prietors are often much perplexed and puzzled by the 
siluation of their hotfses ; the building presenting really 
tico fronts, while they appear to desire only one. ' Such is 
the case when the estate is situated between the public 
road on one side, and the river on the other ; and we have 
often seen the Approach artificially tortured into a long 
circuitous route, in order finally to arrive at what the 
proprietor considers the true front, viz. the side nearest 
the river. When a building is so situated, much the most 

* Repton's Inquiry into the Changes of Taste in Landscape Gardening, p. 109. 



TREA AIENT OF GROUND. FORMATION OF WALKS. 293 

elegant effect is produced by having two fronts : one, the 
entrance front, with the porch or portico nearest the road, 
and the other, the riverfront, facing the water. The beauty 
.)f the whole is often surprisingly enhanced by this arrange- 
ment, for the visitor, after passing by the Approach through 
a considerable portion of ihe grounds, with perhaps but 
slight and partial glimpses ol" the river, is most agreeably 
surprised on entering the house, and looking from the 
drawing-room windows of the other front, to behold another 
Deautiful scene totally different from the last, enriched and 
ennobled by the wide-spread sheet of water before hini. 
Much of the effect produced by this agreeable surprise 
from the interior, it will readily be seen, would be lost, if 
the stranger had already driven round and alighted on the 
river front. 

The Drive is a variety of road rarely seen among us, yet 
which may be made a very agreeable feature in some of 
our country residences, at a small expense. It is intended 
for exercise more secluded than that upon the public road, 
and to show the interesting portions of the place from the 
carriage, or on horseback. Of course it can only be formed 
upon places of considerable extent ; but it enhances the 
enjoyment of such places very highly, in the estimation of 
those who are fond of equestrian exercises. It generally 
commences where the approach terminates, viz. near the 
house : and from thence, proceeds in the same easy curvi- 
linear manner through various parts of the grounds, farm 
or estate. Sometimes it sweeps through the pleasure 
grounds, and returns along the very beach of the rivei, 
beneath the fine overhanging foliage of its projecting bank ; 
sometimes it proceeds towards some favorite point of 
view, or interesting spot on the landscape ; or at others i* 



294 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

leaves the lawn and traverses the farm, giving the pro- 
prietor an opportunity to examine his crops, or exhibit 
his agricultural resources to his friends. 

Walks are laid out for purposes similar to Drivos, but 
are much more common, and may be introduced into every 
scene, however limited. They are intended solely for 
promenades, or exercise on foot, and should therefore be 
dry and firm, if possible, at all seasons when it is desirable 
to use them. Some may be open to the south, sheltered 
with evergreens, and made dry and hard for a warm pro- 
menade in winter; others formed of closely mown turf, 
and thickly shaded by a leafy canopy of verdure, for a cool 
retreat in the midst of summer. Others again may lead to 
some sequestered spot, and terminate in a secluded rustic 
seat, or conduct to some shaded dell or rugged eminence, 
where an extensive prospect can be enjoyed. Indeed, the 
genius of the place must suggest the direction, length, and 
number of the walks to be laid out, as no fixed rules can be 
imposed in a subject so everchanging and different. It 
should, however, never be forgotten, that the walk ought 
always to correspond to the scene it traverses, being rough 
where the latter is wild and picturesque, sometimes scarcely 
differing from a common footpath, and more polished as 
the surrounding objects show evidences of culture and high 
keeping. In dii^ection, like the approach, it should take 
easy flowing curves, though it may often turn more 
abruptly at the interposition of an obstacle. The chief 
beauty of curved and bending lines in walks, lies in the 
new scenes which by means of them are opened tc thtt 
eye. In the straight walk of half a mile the whole is seen 
at a glance, and there is too often but little to excite the; 
spectator to pursue the search ; but in the modern style, at 



TREATMENT OF GROUND. FOUMATION OF WALKS. 205 

every few rods, a new turn in tlie walk opens a new 
prospect to the beholder, and "leads the eye,' as Hogarth 
grapiiically expressed it, " a kind of wanton chase," con- 
tinually axFording new refreshment and variety. 

Fences are often among the most unsightly and offensive 
objects in our country seats. Some persons appear to 
have a passion for subdividing their grounds into a great 
number of fields ; a process which is scarcely ever 
advisable even in common farms, but for which there can 
be no apology in elegant residences. The close proximity 
of fences to the house gives the whole place a confined 
and mean character. " The mind," says Repton, " feels a 
certain disgust under a sense of confinement in any 
situation, however beautiful." A wide-spread lawn, on the 
contrary, where no boundaries are conspicuous, conveys 
an impression of ample extent and space for enjoyment, 
ft is frequently the case that, on that side of the house 
nearest the outbuildings, fences are, for convenience, 
brought in its close neighborhood, and here they are easily 
concealed by plantations ; but on the other sides, open and 
unobstructed views should be preserved, by removing all 
barriers not absolutely necessary. 

Nothing is more common, in the places of cockneys who 
become inhabitants of the country, than a display imme- 
diately around the dwelling of a spruce paling of carpentry, 
neatly made, and painted white or green ; an abomination 
among the fresh fields, of which no person of taste could 
be guilty. To fence off a small plot around a fine house, 
in: the midst of a lawn of fifty acres, is a perversity which 
we could never reconcile, with even the lowest perception 
of beauty. An old stone wall covered with creepers and 
climbing plants, may become a picturesque barrier a 



29G LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

thousand times superior to such a fence. But there is 
never one instance in a thousand where any barrier is 
necessary. Where it is desirable to separate the iLOUse 
from the level grass of the lawn, let it be done by an 
architectural terrace of stone, or a raised platform of 
gravel supported by turf, which will confer importance and 
dignity upon the building, instead of giving it a petty and 
trifling expression. 

Verdant hedges are elegant substitutes for stone or 
wooden fences, and we are surprised that their use has not 
been hitherto more general. We have ourselves oeen 
making experiments for the last ten years with various 
hedge-plants, and have succeeded in obtaining some 
hedges which are now highly admired. Five or six years 
will, in this climate, under proper care, be sufficient to 
produce hedges of great beauty, capable of withstanding 
the attacks of every kind of cattle ; barriers, too, which 
will outlast many generations. The common Arhor Vitcs 
(or flat Cedar), which grows in great abundance in many 
districts, forms one of the most superb hedges, without the 
least care in trimming; the foliage growing thickly down 
to the very ground, and being evergreen, the hedge 
remains clothed the whole year. Our common Thorns, 
and in particular those known in the nurseries as the 
Newcastle and Washington thorns, form hedges of great 
strength and beauty. They are indeed much better 
adapted to this climate than the English Hawthorn, which 
often suffers from the unclouded radiance of our midsummei 
sun. In autumn, too, it loses its foliage much sooner than 
our native sorts, some of which assume a brilliant scarlet 
when the foliage is fading in autumn. In New Enpfand, 
the Buckthorn is preferred from its rapid and luxuriant 



TREATMENT OF GROUND. FORMATION OF WALKS. 297 

growth ;* and in the middle states, the Madura, or Osage 
Orange, is becoming a favorite for its glossy and polished 
loliage. The Privet, or Prim, is a rapid growing shrub, 
well fitted for interior divisions. Picturesque hedges are 
easily formed by intermingling a variety of flowering 
shrubs, sweet briers, etc., and allowing the whole to grow 
together in rich masses. For this purpose the Michigan 
rose is admirably adapted at the north, and the Cherokee 
rose at the south. In all cases where hedges are employed 
in the natural style of landscape (and not in close con- 
nexion with highly artificial objects, buildings, etc.), a 
more agreeable effect will be produced by allowing the 
hedge to grow somewhat irregular in form, or varying it 
by planting near it other small trees and shrubs to break 
the outline, than by clipping it in even and formal lines. 
Hedges may be obtained in a single season, by planting 
long shoots of the osier willow, or any other tree which 
throws out roots easily from cuttings. 

A simple and pleasing barrier, in good keeping with 
cottage residences, may be formed of rustic wo7-k, as it is 
termed. For this purpose, stout rods of any of our native 
forest trees are chosen (Cedar being preferable) with the 
bark on, six to ten feet in length ; these are sharpened and 
driven into the groiind in the form of a lattice, or wrought 
into any figures of trellis that the fancy may sngo-est. 
When covered with luxuriant rines and climbing plants, 
such a barrier is often admirable for its richness and 
variety. 

* The Buckthorn is perhaps the best plant where a thick screen is very 
#1 cedily desired. It ie not liable to the attack of insects; grows very thickly 
at the bottom, at once; and will make an efficient screen sooner than almost 
iny other plant. 



298 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

The sunken fence, fosse, or ha-ha, is an English in- 
vention, used in separating that portion of the lawn near 
the house, from the part grazed by deer or cattle, and is 
only a ditch sufficiently wide and deep to render com- 
munication difficult on opposite sides. When the ground 
slopes from the house, such a sunk fence is invisible to a 
person near the latter, and answers the purpose of a 
barrier without being in the least obtrusive. 

In a succeeding section we shall refer to terraces with 
their parapets, which are by far the most elegant barriers 
for a highly decorated flower garden, or for the purpose of 
maintaining a proper connexion between the house and the 
grounds, a subject which is scarcely at all attended to, O" 
its importance even recognised as yet among us. 



TREATMENT OF WATER. 299 



SECTION VIII. 



TREATMENT OF WATER. 

Beautiful effects of this element in nature. In what cases it is desirable to attempt th( 
formation of artificial pieces of water. Regular forms unpleasing. Directions for the 
formation of ponds or lakes in the irregular manner. Study of natural lakes. Islands 
Planting the margin. Treatment of natural brooks and rivulets. Cascades and watei- 
falls. Legitimate sphere of the art in this department. 

•The dale 

With woods o'erhung, and shagg'd with mossy rocks. 
Whence on each hand the gushing waters play, 
And down the rough cascade wliite-dashing fall. 
Or gleam in lengthened vista through the trees. 




H E delightful and captivating effects of 
water in landscapes of every description 
are universally known and admitted. 
The boundless sea, the broad full river, the dashing noisy 
brook, and the limpid meandering rivulet, are all possessed 
of their peculiar charms ; and when combined with scenes 
otherwise finely disposed and well wooded, they add a 
hundred fold to their beauty. The soft and trembling 
shadows of the surrounding trees and hills, as they fall 
upon a placid sheet of water — the brilliant light which the 
crystal surface reflects i^ pure sunshine, mirroring, too, at 
times in its resplendent bosom, all the cerulean depth and 
snowy whiteness of the overhanging sky, give it an almost 



300 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

magical effect in a beautiful landscape. The murmur of 
the babbling brook, that 

" In linked sweetness long drawn out," 

falls upon the ear in some quiet secluded spot, is inex 
pressibly soothing and delightful to the mind ; and tho 
deeper sound of the cascade that rushes, with an almost 
musical dash, over its bed of moss-covered rock, is one of 
the most fascinating of the many elements of enjoyment 
in a fine country seat. The simplest or the most mono- 
tonous view may be enlivened by the presence of water in 
any considerable quantity ; and the most picturesque and 
striking landscape will, by its addition, receive a new 
charm, inexpressibly enhancing all its former interest. 
In short, as no place can be considered perfectly complete 
without either a water view or water upon its own 
grounds, wherever it does not so exist and can be easily 
formed by artificial means, no man will neglect to take 
advantage of so fine a source of embellishment as is this 
element in some of its varied forms. 

" Fleuves, ruisseaux, beaux lacs, claires fontaines, 



Vencz, portez paitout la vie et la fraicheur ? 

Ah! qui pent remplaccr votre aspect enchanteur? 

De pres 11 nous amuse, et de loin nous invite : 

Cast le premier qu'on cherche, et Ic dernier qu'on quitte. 

Vous fecondez lea champs ; vous repetez les cieax ; 

Vous enchantez I'oreille, et vous charmez les yeux." 

In this country, where the progress of gardening and 
improvements of this nature, is rather shown in a simple 
and moderate embellishment of a large number of villas 
and country seats, than by a lavish and profuse expen- 
diture on a few entailed places, as in the residences of the 
English nobility, the formation of large pieces of water 



TREATMENT OF WATER. 301 

at great cost and extreme labor, would be considered 
both absurd and uncalled for. Indeed, when nature ha? 
so abundahtly spread before us such an endless variety of 
superb lakes, rivers, and streams of every size and descrip- 
tion, the efforts of man to rival her great works by mere 
imitation, would, in most cases, only become ludicrous by 
contrast. 

When, however, a number of perpetual springs clustei 
together, or a rill, rivulet, or brook, runs through an estate 
in such a manner as easily to be improved or developed 
into an elegant expanse of water in any part of the 
grounds, we should not hesitate to take advantage of so 
fortunate a circumstance. Besides the additional beauty 
conferred upon the whole place by such an improvement, 
the proprietor may also derive an inducement from its 
utility ; for the possession of a small lake, well stocked 
with carp, trout, pickerel, or any other of the excellent 
pond fish, which thrive and propagate extremely well in 
clear fresh water, is 5 real advantage which no one will 
undervalue. 

There is no department of Landscape Gardening which 
appears to have been less understood in this country than 
the management of water. Although there have not been 
many attempts made in this way, yet the occasional efforts 
that have been put forth in various parts of the country, in 
the shape of square, circular, and oblong pools of water, 
ind.cate a state of knowledge extremely meagre, in the art 
of Landscape Gardening. The highest scale to which 
these pieces of water rise in our estimation is that of 
respectable horse-ponds; beautiful ol)jects they certainly 
are not. They are generally round or sguare, with per 
fecUy smooth, flat banks on every side, and resemble a 
hue:e basin set down in the middle of a green lawn. 



302 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Lakes or ponds are the most beautiful forms in which 
water can be dis}»layed in the grounds of a country 
lesidence.* They invariably produce their most pleasing 
effects when they are below the level of the house ; as, if 
above, they are lost to the view, and if placed on a level 
with the eye, they are seen to much less advantage. We 
conceive that they should never be introduced where they 
do not naturally exist, except with the concurrence of the 
following circumstances. First, a sufficient quantity of 
running water to maintain at all times an overflow, for 
nothing can be more unpleasant than a stagnant pool, as 
nothing is more delightful than pure, clear, limpid water ; 
and secondly, some natural formation of ground, in which 
the proposed water can be expanded, that will not only 
make it appear natural, but diminish, a hundred fold, the 
expense of formation. 

The finest and most appropriate place to form a lake, is 
m the bottom of a small valley, rather broad in proportion 
to its length. The soil there will probably be found rather 
clayey and retentive of moisture ; and the rill or brook, if 
not already running through it, could doubtless be easily 
diverted thither. There, by damming up the lower part 
of the valley with a head of greater or less height, the water 
may be thrown back so as to form the whole body of the 
lake. 

The first subject which will demand the attention, after 
the spot has been selected for the lake or pond, and the 



• Owing to the immense scale upon which nature displays this fine element 
in North America, every sheet of water of modeiate or small size is almost 
uaiversally called a pond. And many a beautiful, limpid, natural expanse, 
which in Enp'i&^nd would be thought a charming lake, is here simply a pond 
Thz term may be equally correct, but it is by no means as elegant. 



TRRATMEVT OF WATKR. 3'03 

height of the head and consequent depth of water deter 
mined upon, is the proposed ybrm or outline of the whole 
And, as we have already rejected all regular and geometric 
forms, in scenes where either natural or picturesque beauty 
is supposed to predominate, we must turn our attention to 
examples for imitation in another direction. 

If, then, the improver will recur to the most beautiful 
small natural lake within his reach, he will have a subject 
to study and an example to copy well worthy of imitation. 
If he examine minutely and carefully such a body of water, 
with all its accompaniments, he will find that it is not only 
delightfully wooded and overshadowed by a variety of 
vegetation of all heights, from the low sedge that grows 
on its margin, to the tall tree that bends its branches over 
its limpid wave ; but he will also perceive a striking pecu- 
liarity in its irregular outline. This, he will observe, is 
neither round, square, oblong, nor any modification of these 
regular figures, but full of bays and projections, sinuosities, 
and recesses of various forms and sizes, sometimes bold, 
and reaching a considerable way out into the body of the 
lake, at others, smaller and more varied in shape and con- 
nexion. In the heights of the banks, too, he will probably 
observe considerable variety. At some places, the shore 
will steal gently and gradually away from the level of the 
water, while at others it will rise suddenly and abruptly, in 
banks more or less steep, irregular, and rugged. Rocks and 
stones covered with mosses, will here and theVe jut out 
from the banks, or lie along the margin of the water, and 
the whole scene will be full of interest from the variety 
intricacy, and beauty of the various parts. If he will 
accurately note in his mind all these varied forms — their 
separate outlines, the way in which they blend into one 



301 J-AXnsCAPE GARDENING. 

anothei, and connect themselves together, and the effect 
which, surrounding the water, they produce as a whole, he 
will have some tolerably correct ideas of the way in which 
an artificial lake ought io be formed. 

Let him go still further now, in imagination, and suppose 
ihe banks of this natural lake, without being otherwise 
altered, entirely denuded of grass, shrubs, trees, and verdure 
of every description, remaining characterized only by their 
original form and outline ; this will give him a more com- 
plete view of the method in which his labors must com- 
mence ; for uncouth and apparently mis-shapen as those 
banks are and must be, when raw and unclothed, to exhibit 
all their variety and play of light and shadow when vei'dant 
and complete, so also must the original form of the banKs 
and margin of the piece of artificial water, in order finally 
to assume the beautiful or picturesque, be made to assume 
outlines equally rough and harsh in their raw and incom- 
plete state. 

It occasionally happens, though rarely, that around the 
hollow or valley where it is proposed to form the piece of 
water, the ground rises in such irregular form, and is so 
undulating, receding, and projecting in various parts, that 
when the water is dammed up by the head below, the 
natural outline formed by the banks already existing, is 
sufficiently varied to produce a pleasing effect without much 
further preparatory labor. This, when it occurs, is exceed- 
ingly fortunate ; but the examples are so unfrequent, that 
we must here make our suggestions upon a different sup- 
position. 

When, therefore, it is found that the form of the intended 
'ake would not be such as is desirable, it must be made so 
bv diirmng. In order to do this with anv exactness the 



TREATMENT OF WATER. 305 

improver should take his stand at that part cf the g.ound 
where the dam or head is to be formed, and raising his 
levellino; instrument to the exact height to which the 
intended lake will rise, sweep round with his eye upon the 
surrounding sides of the valley, and indicate by placing 
marks there, the precise line to which the water will reach. 
This can easily be done throughout the whole circumference 
by a few changes of position. 

When the outline is ascertained in this way, and marked 
out, the improver can, with the occasional aid of the leveller, 
easily determine where and iiow he can make alterations 
and improvements. He will then excavate along the new 
margin, until he makes the water line (as shown by the 
instrument) penetrate to all the various bays, inlets, and 
curves of the proposed lake. In making these irregular 
variations, sometimes bold and striking, at others fainter 
and less perceptible, he can be guided, as we have already 
suggested, by no fixed rules, but such as he may deduce 
from the operations of nature on the same materials, or by 
imbuing his mind with the beauty of forms in graceful and 
refined art. In highly polished scenery, elegant curves and 
graceful sweeps should enter into the composition of the 
outline ; but in wilder or more picturesque situations, more 
irregular and abrupt variations will be found most suitable 
and appropriate. 

The intended water outline once fully traced and under- 
stood, the workmen can now proceed to form the banks. 
All this time the improver will keep in mind the supposed 
appearance of the bank of a natural lake stripped of its 
vegetation, etc., which will greatly assist him in his progress. 
In some places the banks will rise but little from the water 

at others one or two feet, and at others perhaps three, four, 

20 



306 LA.\iiJ«:APK UAUDENING. 

or six times as niucii. This they will do, not in the same 
manner in all portions of the outline, sloping away with a 
like gradual rise on both sides, for this would inevitably 
produce tamencss and monotony, but in an irregular and 
varied manner ; sometimes falling back gradually, some- 
times starting up perpendicularly, and again overhanging 
the bed cf the' lake itself. 

All this can be easily effected while the excavations of 
those portions of the bed which require deepening are 
going on. And the better portions of the soil obtained 
from the latter, will serve to raise the banks when they are 
too low. 

It is of but little consequence how roughly and 
irregularly the projections, elevations, etc., of the banks 
and outlines are at first made, so that some general form 
and connexion is preserved. The danger lies on the other 
side, viz. in producing a whole too tame and insipid ; for 
we have found by experience, how difficult it is to make 
the best workmen understand how to operate in any othei 
way than in regular curves and straight lines. Besides, 
newly moved earth, by settling and the influence of rains, 
etc., tends, for some time, towards greater evenness and 
equality of surface. 

In arranmng these outlines and banks, we should study 
the effect at the points from which they will generally be 
viewed. Some pieces of water in valleys, are looked 
down upon from other and higher parts of the demesne ; 
others (and this is most generally the case) are only .seen 
from the adjoining walk, at some point or points where the 
latter approaches the lake. They are most generally seen 



TREATMENT OF WATEE. S07 

from one, and seldom from more than two sides. When a 
lake is viewed from above, its contour should be studied 
as a whole; but when it is only seen from one or more 
sides or points, the beauty of the conp d'ceil from those 
positions can often be greatly increased by some trifling 
alterations in arrangement. A piece of water which is long 
and comparatively narrow, appears extremely different 
in opposite points of view ; if seen lengthwise from either 
extremity, its apparent breadth and extent is much 
increased ; while, if the spectator be placed on one side 
and look across, it will seem narrow and insignificant. 
Now, although the form of an artificial lake of moderate 
size should never be much less in breadth than in length, 
yet the contrary is sometimes unavoidably the case ; and 
being so, we should by all means avail ourselves of those 
well known laws in perspective, which will place them in 
the best possible position, relative to the spectator. 

If the improver desire to render his banks still more 
picturesque, resembling the choicest morceaux of natural 
banks, he should go a step further in arranging his materials 
before he introduces the water, or clothes the margin with 
vegetation. In analysing the finest poitions of natural 
banks, it will be observed that their peculiar characteristics 
often depend on other objects besides the mere ground of 
the surrounding banks, and the trees and verdure with 
which they are clothed. These are, rocks of various size, 
forms, and colors, often projecting out of or holding up the 
bank in various places ; stones sometimes imbedded in the 
soil, sometimes lying loosely along the shore ; and lastly, 
old stumps of trees with gnarled roots, whose decaying hues 
are often extremely mellow and agreeable to the eye. Ali 
these Jiave much to do with the expression of a truly pic- 



308 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

turesque bank, and cannot be excluded or taken away from 
it without detracting largely from its character. There is 
no reason, therefore, in an imitation of nature, why we 
should not make use of all her materials to produce a similar 
effect ; and although in the raw and rude state of the banks 
at first, they may have a singular and rather oxdre aspect, 
stuck round and decorated here and there with large rocks, 
smaller stones, and old stumps of trees ; yet it must be 
remembered that this 'is only the chaotic state, from which 
the new creation is to emerge more perfectly formed and 
completed ; and also that the appearance of these rocks 
and stumps, when covered with mosses, and partially 
overgrown with a profusion of luxuriant vegetation and 
climbing plants, will be as beautifully picturesque after a 
little time has elapsed, as it is now uncouth and uninviting. 
Islands generally contribute greatly to the beauty of a 
piece of water. They serve, still further, to increase the 
variety of outline, and to break up the wide expanse of 
liquid into secondary portions, without injuring the effect 
of the whole. The striking contrast, too, between their 
verdure, the color of their margins, composed of variously 
tinted soils and stones, and the still, smooth water around 
them, — softened and blended as this contrast is, by their 
shadows reflected back from the limpid element, gives 
additional richness to the picture. 

The distribution of islands in a lake or pond requiics 
some judgment. They will always appear most natural 
when sufficiently near the shore, on either side, to maintain 
in appearance some connexion with it. Although islands 
do sometimes occur near the middle of natural lakes, yet 
the effect is by no means good, as it not only breaks and 
distracts the effects of the whole expanse by dividing it into 



TREATMENT OF WATER. 309 

two distinct parts, but it always indicates a shallowness or 
want of depth where the water should be deepest. 

There are two situations where it is universally admitted 
that islands may be happily introduced. These are, at the 
inlet and the exit of the body of water. In many cases 
where the stream which supplies the lake is not remark- 
able for size, and will add nothing to the appearance of the 
whole view from the usual points of sight, it may be con- 
cealed by an island or small group of islands, placed at 
sofne little distance in front of it. The head or dam of a 
lake; too, is often necessarily so formal and abrupt, that it 
is difficult to make it appear natural and in good keeping 
with the rest of the margin. The introduction of an island 
or two, placed near the main shore, on either side, and 
projecting as far as possible before the dam, will greatly 
diminish this disagreeable formality, particularly if well 
clothed with a rich tuft of shrubs and overhana;in<T bushes. 

Except in these two instances, islands should be 
generally placed opposite the salient points of the banks, 
or near those places where small breaks or promontories 
run out into the water. In such situations, they will 
increase the irregularity of the outline, and lend it 
additional spirit and animation. Should they, on the other 
hand, be seated in or near the marginal curve and inden- 
tations, they will only serve to clog up these recesses ; 
and wh.ile their own figures are lost in these little bays 
where they are hidden, by lessening the already existing 
irregularities, they will render the whole outline tame 
and spiritless. 

On one or two of these small islands, little rustic 
habitations, if it coincide with the taste of the proprietor, 
may be made for different aquatic birds or waterfowl. 



310 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

which will much enliven the scene by their fine plumage. 
Among these the swan is pre-eminent, for its beauty and 
gracefulness. Abroad, they are the almost constant 
accompaniments of water in the ground of country 
residences ; and it cannot bp denied that, floating about in 
the limpid wave, with their snow-white plumage and 
superbly curved necks, they are extremely elegant objects. 

After having arranged the banks, reared up the islands, 
and completely formed the bed of the proposed lake, the 
improver will next proceed, at the proper joeriod, to finish 
his labors by clothing the newly formed ground, in various 
parts, with vegetation. This may be done immediately, if 
it be desirable ; or if the season be not favorable, it may be 
deferred until the banks, and all the newly formed earth, 
have had time to settle and assume their final forms, after 
the dam has been closed, and the whole basin filled to its 
intended height. 

Planting the margins of pieces of water, if they should 
be of much extent, must evidently proceed upon the same 
leading principle that we have already laid down for 
ornamental plantations in other situations. That is, there 
must be trees of different heights and sizes, and underwood 
and shrubs of lower growth, disposed sometimes singly, at 
others in masses, groups, and thickets : in all of which 
forms, comicxio7i must be preserved, and the whole must be 
made to blend well together, while the different sizes and 
contours will prevent any sameness and confusion. On 
the retreating dry banks, the taller and more sturdy 
deciduous and evergreen trees, as the oak, ash, etc., may 
be planted, and nearer by, the different willows, the elm, 
the alder, and other trees that love a moister situation, will 
thrive well. It is indispensably necessary, in order to 



TREATMENT OF WATER. 311 

produce breadth of effect and strong rich cuiitrasts, that 
underwood should be employed to clothe n^any yiarts of the 
banks. Without it, the stems of trees wi!i uppear loose 
and straggling, and the screen will be so imperfect as to 
allow a free passage for the vision in every direction. For 
this purpose, we have in all our woods, swamps, and along 
our brooks, an abundance of hazels, hawthorns, alders, 
spJce woods, winter berries, azaleas, spireas, and a hundred 
other fine low shrubs, growing wild, which are by nature 
extremely well fitted for such sites, and will produce 
immediate effect on being transplanted. These may be 
intermingled, here and there, with the swamp button-bush 
(Cephalanthus) , which bears handsome white globular heads 
of blossoms, and the swamp magnolia, which is highly 
beautiful and fragrant. On cool north banks, among 
shelves df proper soil upheld by projecting ledges of rock, 
our native Kalmias and Rhododendrons, the common and 
mountain laurels, may be made to flourish. The Virginia 
Creeper, and other beautiful wild vines, may be planted at 
the roots of some of the trees to clamber up their stems, 
and the wild Clematis so placed that its luxuriant festoons 
shall hang gracefully from the projecting boughs of some of 
the overarching trees. Along the lower banks and closer 
margins, the growth of smaller plants will be encouraged, 
and various kinds of wild ferns may be so planted as 
partially to conceal,, overrun, and hide the rocks and 
stumps of trees, while trailing plants, as the periwinkle and 
moneywort {Lysamachia iiummularia), will still further 
increase the intricacy and richness of such portions. In 
this way, the borders of the lake will resemble the finest 
portions of the banks of picturesque and beautiful natural 
dells and pieces of water, and the effect of the whole wher 



312 



LANDSCAl'K GAKDEKINU. 



time has given it the benefit of its softening t'onches, if it 
lias been thiis properly executed, will not be much inferior 
to those matchless bitt^of fine landscape. A more striking 
and artistical effect will be produced bj substituting for 
native trees and shrubs, common on the banks of streams 
and lakes in the country, only yhyq foreign shrubs, vines, 
and aquatic plants of hardy growth, suitable for such 
situations. While these are arranged in the same manner 
as tiie former, from their comparative novelty, especially 
in such sites, they will at once convey the idea of refined 
and elegant art. 

If any person will take the trouble to compare a piece of . 
water so formed, when complete, with the square or circular 
sheets or ponds now in vogue among us, he must indeed be 
little gifted with an appreciation of the beautiful, if he do 
not at once perceive the surpassing merit of the natural 
stvle. In the old method, the banks, level, or rising; on all 
sides, without any or but few surrounding trees, carefully 
gravelled along the edge of the water, or what is still worse, 
walled up, slope away in a tame, dull, uninteresting grass 
field. In the natural method, the outline is varied, some- 
times receding from the eye, at others stealing out, and 
inviting the gaze — the banks here slope off gently with a 
gravelly beach, and there rise abruptly in different heights, 
abounding with hollows, projections, and eminences, show- 
ing various colored locks and soils, intermingled with a 
luxuriant vegetation of all sizes and forms, corresponding to 
the different situations. Instead of allowing the sun to 
pour down in one blaze of light, without any objects to 
soften it with their shade, the thick overhanging groups and 
masses of trees cast, here and there, deep cool shadows. 
Stealing through the ileaves and branches, the sun-beanis 



TREATMENT OF WATER. 313 

quiver and play upon the surface of the flood, and are 
reilected back in dancing light, while their full glow upon 
the broader and more open portions of the lake is relieved, 
and brought into harmony by the cooler and softer tints 
mirrored in the water from the surrounding hues and tints 
of banks, rocks, and vegetation. 

Natural brooks and rivulets may often be improved 
greatly by a few trilling alterations and additions, when 
they chance to come within the bounds of a country resi- 
dence. Occasionally, they may be diverted from their 
original beds when they run through distant and unfre- 
quented parts of the demesne, and brought through nearer 
portions of the pleasure grounds or lawn. This, however, 
can only be done with propriety when there is a natural 
indication in the grounds through which it is proposed to 
divert it — as a succession of hollows, etc., to form the 
future channel. Sometimes, a brisk little brook can be 
tlivided into smaller ones for some distance, again uniting 
ut a point below, creating additional diversity by its vary- 
ing form.* 

Brooks, rivulets, and even rills may frequently be greatly 
improved by altering the form of their beds in various 
places. Often by merely removing a few trifling obstruc- 
tions, loose stones, branches, etc., or hollowing away the 

* The Abbe Delille has given us a fine image of a brook thus divided, it 
ihe following lines : — 

" Plus loin, il se separe en deux raisseaux agiles, 
Qui, se suivant Tun I'autre avec rapidite, 
Disputent do viteose et de limpidite ; 
Puis, rejoignant tons deux le lit qui les rassemble, 
Murmuieiit eiicliantes de voyager ensemble. 
Ainsi, toujours errant de detour en detour, 
Muet, bmyant, paisible, inquiet tour a tour, 
Sous mille as^pects divers son cours se renouvella " 



314 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

adjoining bank for a short distance, fine little expanses or 
pools of still water may be formed, which are happily con- 
trasted with the more rugged course of the rest of th.e 
stream. Such improvements of these minor water courses 
are much preferable to widening them into flat, insipid, 
tame canals or rivers, which, though they present greater 
surface to the eye, are a thousand times inferior in the 
impetuosity of motion, and musical, " babbling sound," so 
delightful in rapid brooks and rivulets.* 

Cascades and water-falls are the most charming features 
of natural brooks and rivulets. Whatever may be their 
size they are always greatly admired, and in no way is the 
peculiar stillness of the air, peculiar to the country, more 
pleasingly broken, than by the melody of falling water. 
Even the gurgling and mellow sound of a small rill, leaping 
over a few fantastic stones, has a kind of lulling fascination 
for the ear, and when this sound can be brought so near as 
to be distinctly heard at the residence itself, it is peculiarly 
delightful. f Now any one who examines a small cascade 
at all attentively, in a natural brook, will see that it is often 
formed in the simplest manner by the interposition of a few 
large projecting stones, which partially dam up the current 
and prevent the ready flow of the water. Such little cas- 
cades are easily imitated, by following exactly the same 

* The most successful improvement of a natural brook that we have evei 
witnessed, has been effected in the grounds of Henry Sheldon, Esq., of Tarry- 
town, N. Y. The great variety and beauty displayed in about a fourth of a 
mile of the course of this stream, its pretty cascades, rustic bridges, roekwork; 
etc., reflect the highest credit on the taste of that gentleman. 

t The fine stream which forms tlie south boundary of Blithewood, on the 
Hudson, the seat of R. Donaldson, Esq., affords two of the fine;t natural cata- 
racts tiiat we have seen in the grounds of any private residence. Fig. 41 is a 
view of the larger cascade which falls about GO feet over a bold, rocky bed. 



TKEATMENT OF WATER. olS 

course, and damming up the little brook artificially ; stu- 
diously avoiding, however, any foriual and artificial dis- 
position of the stones or rocks employed. 

Larger water-falls and cascades cannot usually be made 
without some regular head or breastwork, to oppose more 
firmly the force of the current. Such heads may be formed 
of stout plank and well prepared clay ;* or, which is greatly 
preferable, of good masonry laid in water cement. After 
a head is thus formed it must be concealed entirely from 
the eye by covering it both upon the top and sides with 
natural rocks and stones of various sizes, so ingeniously 
disposed, as to appear fully to account for, or be the cause 
of the water-fall. 

The axe of the original backwoodsman appears to have 
left such a mania for clearing behind it, even in those 
portions of the Atlantic states where such labor should be 
for ever silenced, that some of our finest places in the 
country will be found much desecrated and mutilated by 
its careless and unpardonable use ; and not only are fine 
plantations often destroyed, but the banks of some of our 
finest streams and prettiest rivulets partially laid bare by 
the aid of this instrument, guided by some tasteless hand. 
Wherever fine brooks or water courses are thus mutilated, 
one of the most necessary and obvious improvements is to 
reclothe them with plantations of trees and underwood. 
In planting their banks anew, much beauty and variety 
can often be produced by employing different growths, 
and arranging them as we have directed for the margins 

* It is found that strong loam or any tenacious earth well prepared by 
puddling , or beating in water is equally impervious to water as clay ; and may 
tlierefore be used for lining the sides or dams of bodies of made water wheii 
such materials are required. 



316 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

of lakes and ponds. In some places where easy, beautifu* 
slopes and undulations of ground border the streams, 
gravel, soft turf, and a few simple groups of trees, will be 
the most natural accompaniments ; in others where the 
borders of the stream are broken into rougher, more 
rocky, and precipitous ridges, all the rich wildness and 
intricacy of low shrubs, ferns, creeping and climbing 
plants, may be brought in to advantage. Where the 
extent to be thus improved is considerable, tiie trouble 
may be lessened by planting the larger growth, and sowing 
the seeds of the smaller plants mingled together. Prepare 
the materials, and time and nature, with but little occa- 
sional assistance, will mature, and soften, and blend 
together the whole, in their own matchless and inimitable 
manner. 

From all that we have suggested in these limited 
remarks, it will be seen that we would only attempt in our 
operations with water, the graceful or picturesque imitations 
of natural lakes or ponds, and brooks, rivulets, and streams. 
Such are the only forms in which this unrivalled element 
can be displayed so as to harmonize agreeably with natural 
and picturesque scenery. In the latter, there can be no 
apology made for the introduction of straight canals, 
round or oblong pieces of water, and all the regular forms 
of the geometric mode ; because they would evidently be 
in violent opposition to the whole character and expres- 
sion of natural landscape. In architectural, or flower 
gardens (on which we shall hereafter have occasion to 
offer some remarks), where a different and highly artificial 
arrangement prevails, all these regular forms, with various 
jets, fountains, etc., may be employed with good taste, 
and wiU combine well with the other accessories of such 



TRKATMKNT OF VVATER. 817 

places. But in the grounds of a residence in the modern 
style, nature, if possible, still more purified, as in the great 
chefs-d'auvre of art, by an ideal standard, should be the 
great aim of the Landscape Gardener. And with watei 
especially, only beautiful when allowed to take its own 
flowing forms and graceful motions, more than with any 
other of our materials, all appearance of constraint and 
formality should be avoided. If art be at all manifest, it 
should discover itself only, as in the admirably painted 
landscape, in the reproduction of nature in her choicest 
developments. Indeed, many of the most celebrated 
authors who have treated of this subject, appear to agree 
that the productions of the artist in this branch are most 
perfect as they approach most nearly to fac-similes of 
nature herself: and though art should have formed the 
whole, its employment must be nowhere discovered by the 
spectator ; or as Tasso has more elegantly expressed the 
idea : 

*• l'aRTE CHE TUTTO FA, NULLA SI 8COPKE.'' 



318 



J.ANDSCAPE GARDEMNO 



SECTION IX. 



LANDSCAPE OR RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 



Difference between a city and a country house. The characteristic features of a country 
house. Examination of the leading principles in Rural Architecture. The difTerenl 
styles. The Grecian style, its merits and defects, and its associations. The Roman and 
Italian styles. The Pointed or Gothic style. The Tudor Mansion. The English 
Cottage, or Rural Gothic style. These styles considered in relation to situation oi 
<i«.enery. Imlividual tastes. Entrance Lodges. 

" A house amid the quiet country's shades, , 

With length'ning vistas, ever sunny glades ; 
Beauty and fragrance clustering o'er the wall, 
A porch inviting, and an ample hall." 

R C H I T E C T U i: E , 

either practically considere J 
or viewed as an art of tasle, 
is a subject so important and 
^^^ comprehensive in itself, that 
volumes would be requisite 
to do it justice. Buildings of every description, from the 
humble cottage to the lofty temple, are objects of such 
constant recurrence in every habitable part of the globe, 
and are so strikingly indicative of the intelligence, 
character, and taste of the inhabitants, that they possess 
in themselves a great and peculiar interest for the mind. 
To have a " local habitation," — a permanent dwelling, 
that we can give the impress of our own mind., and 
identify with our own existence, — appears to he liie 
ardent wish, sooner or later felt, of every man : excepting 




aUKAL AUCHITECTUIIR. 319 

only those wandering sons of Ishmael, who pitch their 
tents with the same indifference, and as little desire to 
remain fixed, in the flowery plains of Persia, as in the 
sandy deserts of Zahara or Arabia. 

In a city or town, or in its immediate vicinity, where 
spfce is limited, where buildings stand crowded together, 
and depend for their attractions entirely upon the style 
and manner of their construction, mere architectural* 
effect, after convenience and fitness are consulted, is of 
course the only point to be kept in view. There, the 
fa9ade, which meets the eye • of the spectator from the 
public street, is enriched and made attractive by the 
display of architectural style and decoration, commen- 
surate to the magnitude or importance of the edifice ; and 
the whole, so far as the effect of the building is concerned, 
comes directly within the province of the architect alone. 

With respect to this class of dwellings w^e have little 
complaint to make, for many of our town residences are 
highly elegant and beautiful. But how shall we designate 
that singular perversity of taste, or rather that total want 
of it, which prompts the man, who, under the name of 3 
villa residence, piles up in the free open country, amid the 
green fields, and beside the wanton gracefulness of luxuriant 
nature, a stiff modern " three story brick," which, like a 
well bred cockney with a true horror of the country, 
doggedly seems to refuse to enter into harmonious com- 
bination with any other object in the scene, but only 
serves to call up the exclamation, 

Avaunt, stiff pile ! why didst thou stray 
From blocks congenial in Broadway ! 

Vet almost daily we see built up in the country huge 



320 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

combinations of boards and shingles, without the least 
attempt at aaaptation to situation ; and square masse? 
of brick start up here and there, in the verdant slopes 
of our village suburbs, appearing as if they had been 
transplanted, by some unlucky incantation, from the close- 
packed neighborhood of city residence, and left acciden- 
tally in the country, or, as Sir Walter Scott has re- 
marked, " had strayed out to the country for an airing." 

What then are the proper characteristfts of a rural 
residence ? The answer to this, in a few words, is, such 
a dwelling, as from its various accommodations, not only 
gives ample space for all the comforts and conveniences 
of a country life, but by its varied and picturesque form 
and outline, its porches, verandas, etc., also appears to 
have some reasonable connexion, or be in perfect keeping, 
with surrounding nature. Architectui^al beauty must be 
considered conjointly with the beauty of the landscape or 
situation. Buildings of almost every description, and 
particularly those for the habitation of man, will be 
considered by the mind of taste, not only as architectural 
objects of greater or less merit, but as component parts 
of the general scene ; united with the surrounding lawn, 
embosomed in tufts of trees and shrubs, if properly 
designed and constructed, they will even serve to impress 
a character upon the surrounding landscape. Their effect 
will frequently be good or bad, not merely as they are 
excellent or indifferent examples of a certain style of 
building, but as they are happily or unhappily combined 
with the adjacent scenery. The intelligent observer will 
readily appreciate the truth of this, and acknowledge the 
value, as well as necessity, of something besides archi- 
leclural knowledge. Anc he will perceive how much 



RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 321 

more likely to be successful are the efforts of him, who, in 
composing and constructing a rural residence, calls in tc 
the aid of architecture, the genius of the landscape ;— 
whose mind is imbued with a taste for beautiful scenery, 
and who so elegantly and ingeniously engrafts art upon 
nature, as to heighten her beauties ; while by the 
harmonious union he throws a borrowed charm around 
his own creation. 

The English, above all other people, are celebrated for 
their skill in what we consider rural adaptation. Their 
residences seem to be a part of the scenes where they are 
situated ; for their exquisite taste and nice perception of 
the beauties of Landscape Gardening and rural scenery, 
lead them to erect those picturesque edifices, which, by 
their varied outlines, seem in exquisite keeping with 
nature ; while by the numberless climbing plants, shrubs, 
and fine ornamental trees with which they surround them, 
they form beautiful pictures of rural beauty. Even the 
various offices connected with the dwelling, partially 
concealed by groups of foliage, and contributing to the 
expression of domestic comfort, while they extend outj 
and give importance to the main edifice, also serve to 
connect it, in a less abrupt manner, with the grounds." 

The leading principles which should be our guide in 
Landscape or Rural Architecture, have been condensed 
by an able writer in the following heads. "1st, As a 
useful art, in fitness for the end in view : 2d, as an 
art of design in expression of purpose : 3d, as an art 
of taste, in expression of some particular akchitec- 

TURAL STYLE." 

The most enduring and permanent source of satisfaction 

in house? is, undoubtedly, utihty. In a country residence, 

21 



322 LANDSCAPE GARDENING, 

therefore, of whatever character, the comfort and con- 
venience of the various members of the family being the 
■first and most important consideration, the qiiahty of 
fitness is universally appreciated and placed in the first 
rank. In many of those articles of furniture or apparel 
which luxury or fashion has brought into use, fitness or 
convenience often gives way to beauty of form or texture : 
but in a habitation intended to shelter us from the heat 
and cold, as well as to give us an opportunity to dispense 
the elegant hospitalities of refined life — the neglect of the 
various indispensable conveniences and comforts which 
an advanced state of civilization requires, would be but 
poorly compensated for by a fanciful exterior or a highly 
ornate style of building. Further than this, fitness will 
extend to the choice of situation ; selecting a sheltered 
site, neither too high, as upon the exposed summit of bleak 
hills, nor too low, as in the lowest bottoms of damp 
valleys ; but preferring those middle grounds which, while 
they afford a free circulation of air, and a fine prospect, 
are not detrimental to the health or enjoyment of the 
occupants. A proper exposure is another subject, worthy 
of the attention of either the architect or proprietor, as 
there are stormy and pleasant aspects or exposures in all 
climates. 

Hov/ever much the principle o^ fitness may be appre- 
ciated and acted upon in the United States, we have 
certainly great need of apology for the flagrant and almost 
constant violation of the second principle, viz. the exp-*e^- 
sion of pu7'pose. By the expression of purpose in 
buildings, is meant that architectural character, or 
ensemble, which distinctly points out the particular use or 
iestination for which the edifice is intended. In a 



RURAL ARCHITECTUR'E. 323 

dwelling-house, the expression of purpose is conveyed by 
the chimney-tops, the porch or veranda, and those 
various appendages indicative of domestic enjoyment, 
which are needless, and therefore misplaced, in a public 
building. In a church, the spire or the dome, when 
present, at once stamps the building with the expression 
of purpose ; and the few openings and plain exterior, with 
the absence of chimneys, are the suitable and easily 
recognised characteristics of the barn. Were any one to 
commit so violent an outrage upon the principle of the 
expression of purpose as to surmount his barns with the 
tall church spire, our feelings would at once cry out 
against the want of propriety. Yet how often do we 
meet in the northern states, with stables built after the 
models of Greek temples, and barns with elegant Venetian 
shutters — to say nothing of mansions with none but 
concealeo ci iiiine^-tops, and without porches or append- 
ages of hr.y Kind, to give the least hint to the mind of the 
doubting spectator, whether the edifice is a chapel, a bank, 
a hospital, or the private dwelling of a man of wealth and 
opulence ! 

" The expression of the purpose for which every 
building is erected," says the writer before quoted, "is 
the first and most essential beauty, and should be obvious 
from its architecture, although independent of any 
particular style ; in the same manner as the reasons for 
things are altogether independent of the language m 
which they are conveyed. As in literary composition, no 
beauty of language can ever compensate for poverty of 
sense, so in architectural composition, no beauty of style 
can ever compensate for want of expression of purpose.'' 
Applying this excellent principle to our own country 



o'24 LANDSCAPK GARDENING. 

houses and their offices or out-buildings, we think every 
reasonable person will, at the first glance, see how 
lamentably deficient are many of the productions of our 
architects and builders, in one of the leading principles of 
the art. The most common form for an American country 
villa is the pseudo-Greek Temple ; that is, a rectangular 
oblong building, with the chimney-tops concealed, if 
possible, and instead of a pretty and comfortable porch, 
veranda, or piazza, four, six, or eight lofty wooden 
columns are seen supporting a portico, so high as neither 
to afford an agreeable promenade, nor a sufficient shelter 
from the sun and rain. 

There are two features, which it is now generally 
admitted contribute strongly to the expression of purpose 
in a dwelling-house, and especially in a country residence. 
These are the chimney-tops and the entrance porch. 
Chimney-tops, with us, are generally square masses of 
brick, rising above the roof, and presenting certainly no 
very elegant appearance, which may perhaps serve as the 
apology of those who studiously conceal them. But in a 
climate where fires are requisite during a large portion ol 
the year, chimney-tops are expressive of a certain comfort 
resulting from the use of them, which characterizes a 
building intended for a dwelling in that climate. Chimney- 
tops being never, or rarely, placed on those buildings 
intended for the inferior animals, are also undoubtedly 
strongly indicative of human habitations. Instead, there- 
fore, of hiding or concealing them, they shovdd be in all 
dwellings not only boldly avowed, but rendered ornam.ental ; 
for whatever is a characteristic and necessary feature, 
should undoubtedly, if possible, be rendered elegant, or at 
least prevented from being ugly. 



RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 325 

Much of the picturesque effect of the ola English and 
Italian houses, undoubtedly arises from the handsome and 
curious stacks of chimneys which spring out of their roofs. 
These, while they break and diversify the sky outline of the 
building, enrich and give variety to its most bare and 
unornamented part. Examples are not wanting, in all the 
different styles of architecture, of handsome and character 
is'jc chimneys, which may be adopted in any of our 
dwellings of a similar style. The Gothic, or old English 
chimney, with octagonal or cylindrical flues or shafts united 
in clusters, is made in a great variety of forms, either of 
bricks oi artificial stone. The former materials, moulded 
in the required shape, are highly taxed in England, while 
they may be very cheaply made here. 

A Porch strengthens or conveys expression of purpose, 
because, instead of leaving the entrance door bare, as in 
manufactories and buildings of an inferior description, it 
serves both as a note of preparation, and an effectual 
shelter and protection to the entrance. Besides this, it 
gives a dignity and importance to that entrance, pointing 
it out to the stranger as the place of approach. A fine 
country house, without a porch or covered shelter to the 
doorway of some description, is therefore as incomplete, 
to the correct eye, as a well printed book without a title 
page, leaving the stranger to plunge at once in ?nedias res, 
without the friendly preparation of a single word of intro- 
duction. Porches are susceptible of every variety of form 
cad decoration, from the embattled and buttressed portal 
of the Gothic castle, to the latticed arbor porch of the 
cottage, around which the festoons of luxuriant climbing 
plants cluster, giv,ing an. effect not less beautiful than tho 
richly carved capitals of the classic portico. 



326 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

In this country no architectural feature is more plainly 
expressive of purpose in our dwejling-houses than the 
veranda, or piazza. The unclouded splendor and fierce 
heat of our summer sun, render this very general appendage 
a source of real comfort and enjoyment ; and the long 
veranda round many of our country residences E'.and* 
instead of the paved terraces of the English mansion'' a^. 
the place for promenade ; while during the warmer portions 
of the season, half of the days or evenings are there passed 
in the enjoyment of the cool breezes, secure under low 
roofs supported by the open colonnade, from the solar rays, 
or the dews of night. The obvious utility of the veranda 
in this climate (especially in the middle and southern states) 
will, therefore, excuse its adoption into any style of archi- 
tecture that maybe selected for our domestic uses, although 
abroad, buildings in the style in question, as the Gothic, for 
example, are not usually accompanied by such an append- 
age. An artist of the least taste or invention will easily 
compose an addition of this kind, that will be in good 
keeping with the rest of the edifice. 

These various features, or parts of the building, with 
many others which convey expression of jnirpose in 
domestic architecture, because they recall to the mind the 
different uses to which they are applied, and the several 
enjoyments connected with them, also contribute greatly 
to the interest of the building itself, and hei2;hten its ijood 
effect as part of a harmonious whole, in tiie landscape. 
The various projections and irregularities, caused by 
verandas, porticos, etc., serve to connect the otherwise 
square masses of building, by gradual transition with the 
ground about it. 

The reader, who thus recognizes features as exp»ressive 



RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 327 

of purpose in a dwelling intended for the habitation of man, 
^ve ihink, can be at no great loss to understand what would 
be f-haracteristic in out-buildings or offices, farm-houses, 
lodges, stables, and the like, which are necessary structures 
on a villa or mansion rfesidence of much size or importance. 
A proper regard to the expression of use or purpose, without 
mterfering with the beauty of style, will confer at all times 
another, viz. the beauty of truth, without which no building 
can be completely satisfactory ; as deceptions of this kind 
(buildings appearing to be what they are not) always go 
far towards destroying in the mind those pleasurable emo- 
tions felt on viewing any correct woi'k of art, however 
simple in character or design. 

We have now to consider rural architecture under the 
guidance of the third leading principle, as an art of taste. 
The expression of architectural style in buildings is un- 
doubtedly a matter of the first importance, and proper care 
being taken not to violate fitness and expression of purpose, 
it may be considered as appealing most powerfully, at once, 
to the mind of almost every person. Indeed, with many, 
it is the only species of beauty which they perceive in 
buildings, and to it both convenience and the expression 
of purpose are often ignorantly sacrificed. 

A marked style of architecture appears to us to have 
claims for our admiration or preference for rural residences, 
for several reasons. As it is intrinsically beautiful in itself, 
as it interests us by means of the associations connected 
with it ; as it is fitted to the wants and comforts of country 
life; and as it is adapted to, or harmonizes with, the 
locality or scenery where it is located. 

The harmonious union of buildings and scenery, is a 
point of taste tliat appears to be but little understood io_ 



328 LANDSCAPE GARDENING 

any country ; and mainly, we believe, because the architect 
and the landscape painter are seldom combined in the same 
person, or are seldom consulted together. It is for this 
reason that we so rarely see a country residence, or cottage 
and its grounds, making such a composition as a landscape 
painter would choose for his pencil. But it does not seem 
difficult, with a slight recurrence to the leading principle 
of unity of expression, to suggest a mode of immediately 
deciding which style of building is best adapted to harmo- 
nize with a certain kind of scenery. 

The reader is, we trust, already familiar with our 
division of landscapes into two natural classes, — the 
Beautiful and the Picturesque, — and the two accordant 
systems of improvement in Landscape Gardening which 
we have based upon these distinct characters. Now, in 
order to render our buildings perfectly harmonious, we 
conceive it only to be necessary to arrange (as we may 
very properly do) all the styles of domestic architecture in 
corresponding divisions. 

Some ingenious writer has already developed this idea, 
and, following a hint taken from the two leading schools 
of literature and art, has divided all architecture into the 
Classical and the Roinantic schools of design. The 
Classical comprises the Grecian style, and all its near and 
direct offspring, as the Roman and Italian- modes ; the 
Romantic school, the Gothic style, with its numberless 
variations of Tudor, Elizabethan, Flemish, and old English 
modes. 

It is easy to see, at a glance, how well these divisions 
correspond with our Beautiful and Picturesque phases of 
Landscape Gardening, so that indeed we might call the 
Grecian or Classical style, Beautiful, and the Gothic oi 



RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 329 

Romantic style, the Picturesque schools in architecture. 
In classical buildings, as in beautiful landscape, we are led 
to admire simplicity of forms and outlines, purity of effect, 
and grace of composition. In the Romantic or Picturesque 
buildings, we are struck by the irregularity of forms and 
outlines, variety of effect, and boldness of composition. 
What, therefore, can be more evident in seeking to 
produce unity of effect than the propriety of selecting 
some variations of the classical style for Beautiful 
landscape, and some species of romantic irregular building 
for Picturesque landscape ? 

In a practical point of view, all buildings which have 
3onsiderable simplicity of outline, a certain complete and 
graceful style of ornament, and a polished and refined kind 
of finish, may be considered as likely to harmonize best 
with all landscape where the expression is that of simple 
jr graceful beauty — where the lawn or surface is level or 
gently undulating, the trees rich and full in foliage and 
form, and the general character of the scenery peaceful 
and beautiful. Such are the Grecian, Roman, Tuscan, 
and the chaster Italian styles. 

On the other hand, buildings of more irregular outline, 
in which' appear bolder or ruder ornaments, and a certain 
free and more rustic air in finishing, are those which 
should be selected to accompany scenery of a wilder or 
more picturesque character, abounding in striking varia- 
tions of surface, wood, and water. And these are the 
Castellated, the Tudor, and the old English in all its forms. 

There is still an intermediate kind of architecture, 
originally a variation of the classical style, but which, in 
becoming adapted to different and more picturesque 
situations, has lost much of its graceful character, and has 



330 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

become quite picturesque in its outlines and effects. Of 
this kind are the Swiss and the bracketed cottage, and the 
different highly irregular forms of the Italian villa. Thg 
more simple and regular variations of these modes of 
building, may be introduced with good effect in any plain 
country ; while the more irregular and artistical forms ha\'8 
the happiest effect only in more highly varied and suitable 
localities. 

The Egyptian, one of the oldest architectural styles, 
characterized by its heavy colossal forms, and almost sub- 
lime expression, is supposed to have had its origin in caverns 
hewn in the rocks. The Chinese style, easily known by 
its waving lines, probably had its type in the eastern tent. 
The Saracenic, or Moorish style, rich in fanciful decoration, 
is striking and picturesque in its details, and is worthy of 
the attention of the wealthy amateur. 

Neither of these styles, however, is, or can well be, 
thoroughly adapted to our domestic purposes, as they are 
wanting in fitness, and have comparatively few charms of 
association for residents of this country. 

The only styles at present in common use for domestic 
architecture, throughout the enlightened portions of Europe 
and America, are the Grecian and Gothic styles, or some 
modifications of these two distinct kinds of building. These 
modifications, which of themselves are now considered 
styles by most authors, are, the Roman and modern Italian 
styles, which have grown out of Greek architecture ; the 
Castellated, the Tudor, the Elizabethan, and the rural 
Gothic or old English cottage styles, all of which are 
variations of Gothic architecture. 

Grecian or classic architecture was exhibited in ita 
purity in those splendid temples of the golden days of 



KURAL ARCniTECTURE. 331 

Athens, wliicli still remain in a sufficient degree of pre- 
servation to bear ample testimony to the high state of 
architectural art among the Greeks. Each of the five 
orders was so nicely determined by their profound know- 
ledge of the harmony of forms, and admirably executed, 
that all modern attempts at improving them have entirely 
failed, for they are, individually, complete models. 

As it is admitted, then, that Grecian architecture is 
intrinsically beautiful in itself, and highly interesting in 
point of associations, it may be asked, what are the objec- 
tions, if any, to its common introduction into domestic 
Eural Architecture ? 

We have already avowed that we consider fitness and 
expression of purpose two leading principles of the first 
Importance in Eural Architecture, and Grecian architec- 
ture in its pure form-viz., the telnple-^^A^m applied to 
the purposes of domestic life, makes a sad blow at both 
these established rules. The comforts of a country resi- 
dence are so various, that verandahs, porches, wings 
of different sizes, and many other little accommo- 
dations expressive of purpose, become necessary, and, 
therefore, when properly arranged, add to the beauty 
of Rural Architecture. But the admirer of the true 
Greek models is obliged to forego the majority of these; 
and to come within the prescribed form of the rectangmar 
parallelogram, his apartments must be of a given size and 
a Hmited number, while many things, both exterior and 
interior, which convenience might otherwise prompt, have 
to bow to the despotic sway of the pure Greek model. 
In a dwelling of moderate dimensions how great a sacrifice 
of room is made to enable the architect to display the 
portico alone! 



332 



(LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



It has been well observed 
by modern critics, that there 
is no reason to believe the 
temple form was ever, even 
y by the Greeks, used for pri- 
I^M^^, vate dwellings, which easily 
^^ accounts for our compara- 
^tive failure in constructing 
[vvi. 40. Koiiuui itesidence.) Well arranged, small resi- 

dences in this style. 

The Romans, either unable to compose in the simple 
elegance and beauty of the Grecian style, or feeling its 
want of adaptation to the multifarious usages of a more 





[Fig. 41. View at Presque Isle, the residence of Wm. Denning, Esq., Dutchess Co., N. Y.] 

luxurious state of societ}-, created for themselves what is 
s;enerally considered a less beautiful and perfect, yet which 
is certainly a more rich, varied, and, if we may use the 



RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 333 

term, accommodating style. The Roman style is dis- 
tinguished from its prototype by the introduction of arched 
openings over the doors and windows, story piled over 
story, — often with columns of different orders — instead of 
the simple unbroken line of the Greek edifices. In 
decoration, the buildings in this style vary from plain, 
unornamented exteriors, to the most highly decorated 
facades ; and instead of being confined to the few fixed 
principles of the Greek, the greatest latitude is often 
observed in the proportions, forms, and decorations of 
buildings in the Roman style. These very circumstances, 
while they rendered the style less perfect as a fine art, or 
for public edifices, gave it a pliability or facility of 
adaptation, which fits it more completely for domestic 
purposes. For this reason, a great portion of the finest 
specimens of the modern domestic architecture of the 
other continent is to be found in the Roman style.* 

The Italian style is, we think, decidedly the most 
beautiful mode for domestic purposes, that has been the 
direct offspring of Grecian art. It is a style which has 
evidently grown up under the eyes of the painters of more 
modern Italy, as it is admirably adapted to harmonize with 
general nature, and produce a pleasing and picturesque 
effect in fine landscapes. Retaining more or less of the 
columns, arches, and other details of the Roman style, it 
has intrinsically a bold irregularity, and strong contrast of 
light and shadow, which give it a peculiarly striking and 
painter-like effect. 

* Perhaps the finest faqade of a private residence, in America, is that of the 
"Patroon's house," near Albany, the ancient seat of the Van Rensselaer 
family, lately remodelled and improved by that skilful architect, Mr. Upjohn, 
of New York. 



334 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



" The villa architecture of modern Italy," says Mr. 
Lamb, an able architect,* "is characterized, when on 
a moderate scale, by scattered irregular masses, great 
contrasts of light and shade, broken and plain surfaces, and 
great variety of outline against the sky. The blank wall 
on which the eye sometimes reposes ; the towering cam- 
panile, boldly contrasted with the horizontal line of roof 
only broken by a few straggling chimney-tops : the row oi 
equal sized, closely placed windows, contrasting with the 
plain space and single window of the projecting balcony; 
the prominent portico, the continued arcade, the terraces, 
and the variously formed and disposed out-buildings, all 
combine to form that picturesque whole, which distinguishes 
the modern Italian villa from every other."f 

A building in the Italian style may readily be known at 
first sight, by the peculiar appearance of its roofs. These 
are always projecting at the eaves, and deeply furrowed or 




[Fig 42 A Vil'a in the It ilnii st> le ] 

ridged, being formed abroad of semi-cylindrical tiles, which 
give a distinct and highly marked expression to this 

* Loudon's Ency. of Arch. p. 951. 

t In this country, owing to the greater number of fires, the effect would be 
unproved by an additional number of chimney-tops. 



RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 335 

portion of the building.* So many appliances of comfort 
and enjoyment suited to a v/arm climate appear, too, in 
the villas of this style, that it has a peculiarly elegant and 
refined appearance. Among these are arcades, with the 
Roman arched openings, forming sheltered promenades ; 
and beautiful balconies projecting from single windows, or 
sometimes from connected rows of windows, which are 
charming places for a coup d'ceil, or to enjoy the cool 

breeze as they admit, to shelter one from the sun, of a 

fanciful awning shade, which may be raised or lowered at 
pleasure. The windows themselves are bold, and well 
marked in outline, being either round-arched at the tops, 
OT finished with a heavy architrave. 




[Fig. 4:3. Residence of Gov. Moix'heiul, N(.rth Ciirolina.l 

All these balconies, arcades, etc., are sources of real 
pleasure in the hotter portions of our year, which are quite 
equal in elevation of temperature to summers of the south 
of Europe ; while by increased thickness of walls and 

* In some situations in this country, where it miglit be difficult to procure 
tiles made in this form, their effect may be very accurately imitated by deeply 
ridged zinc or tin coverings. The bold projection of the eaves, in the Italian 
Ktyle, offers great protection to a house against storms and daminiess. 



OOO 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



closeness of window fixtures, the houses may also be mado 
of the most comfortable description in winter. 

The Italian chimney-tops, unlike the Grecian, are 
always openly shown and rendered ornamental ; and "as 
we have already mentioned, the irregularity in the masses 
of the edifice and shape of the roof, renders the sky 
outline of a building in this style, extremely picturesque. 
A villa, however small, in the Italian style, may have an 
elegant and expressive character, without interfering 
with convenient internal arrangements, while at the same 
time this style has the very great merit of allowing 
additions to be made in almost any direction, without 

injuring the effect of the 




f^-j.T.-v, original structure ; indeed 



'■'•^"w^ such is the variety of sizes 
and forms which the dif- 
ferent parts of an Italian 
villa may take, in perfect 



[Fig. 44. The New Haven Suburban Villa.*] accordancc with architec- 
tural propriety, that the original edifice frequently gains in 
beauty by additions of this description. Those who are 
aware how many houses are every year erected in the 
United States by persons of moderate fortune, who would 
gladly make additions at some subsequent period, could 
this be done without injuring the effect or beauty of the 
main building, will, we think, acknowledge how much, 



* New Haven abounds with tasteful residences. " Hillhouse Avenue," in 
particular, is remarkable for a neat display of Tuscan or Italian Suburban 
Villas. Moderate in dimension and economical in construction, these e.^ceed- 
mgly neat edifices may be considered as models for this kind of dwelliii;;. 
Fig. 44-, without being a precise copy of any one of these buildings, may bo 
taken as a pretty accurate representation of their general appearance. 



liURAL ARCHITECTURE. 337 

even were it in this single point alone, the Italian style ii> 
superior to the Grecian for rural residences. 

Pleasing associations are connected with Roman and 
Italian architecture, especially to those who have studied 
Iheir effect in all the richness and beauty with which they 
are invested in the countries where they originated ; and 
Uicy may be regarded with a degree of classic interest by 
every cultivated mind. The modern Italian style recalls 
images of that land of painters and of the fine arts, where 
the imagination, the fancy, and taste, still revel in a world 
of beauty and grace. The great number of elegant forms 
whicli have grown out of this long cultivated feeling for 
the beautiful in the fine arts, — in the shape of fine vases, 
statues, and other ornaments, which harmonize with, and 
are so well adapted to enrich, this style of architecture, — 
combine to render it in the fine terraced gardens of 
Florence and other parts of Italy, one of the richest and 
most attractive styles in existence. Indeed we can hardly 
imagine a mode of building, which in the hands of a man 
of wealth and taste, may, in this country, be made pro- 
ductive of more beauty, convenience, and luxury, than 
the modern Italian style ; so well suited to both our hot 
summers and cold winters, and which is so easily suscep- 
tible of enrichment and decoration, while it is at the same 
time so well adapted to the material in the most common 
use at present in most parts of the country, — wood. 
Vases, and other beautiful architectural ornaments, may 
now be procured in our cities, or imported direct from 
ne Mediterranean, finely cut in Maltese stone, at very 



22 



338 



LANDSCAPE GAllUEMNG. 



moderate prices, and which serve to decorate both the 
grounds and buildings in a handsome manner. 

From the ItaUan style it is an easy transition to the 
Swiss mode, a bold and spirited one, highly picturesque 
and interesting in certain situations. To build an exact 
copy of a Swiss cottage in a smooth cultivated country, 
would, both as regards association and intrinsic want 
of fitness, be the height of folly. But in a wild and 
mountainous region, such as the borders of certain deep 
valleys and rocky glens in the Hudson Highlands, or 
rich bits of the Alleghanies, positions may be found 
where the Swiss cottage (Fig. 45), with its low and broad 
root", shedding ofi' the heavy snows, its ornamented 
exterior gallery, its strong and deep brackets, and. its 
rough and rustic exterior, would be in the highest degree 
appropriate. 




[Fig. 45. The Swiss Cottage.] 



A modification, partaking somewhat of the Italian and 
Swiss features, is what we have described more fully in our 
"Cottage Residences" as the Bracketed mode. It possesses 



RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 



a good Jeal of character, is capable of considerable pic- 
turesque elTect, is very easily and cheaply constructed of 
wood or stone, and is perhaps more entirely adapted to our 



f^^£^W^ 




fFig. 4b. Tht Bi.kUuiI Mod 



hot summers and cold winters than any other equally 
simple mode of building. We hope to see this Bracketed 
style becoming every day more common in the United 
States, and especially in our farm and country houses, 
when wood is the inaterial employed in their construction. 
Gothic, or more properly, pointed architecture, which 
sprang up with the Christian religion, reached a point of 
great perfection about the thirteenth century ; a period 
when the most magnificent churches and cathedrals of 
England and Germany were erected. These wonderful 
structures, reared by an almost magical skill and contriv- 
ance, with their richly groined roofs of stone supported in 
mid-air ; their beautiful and elaborate tracery and carving 
of plants, flowers, and animate objects ; their large windows 



340 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

through which streamed a rich glow of rainbow light ; their 
various buttresses and pinnacles, all contributing to 
strengthen, and at the same time give additional beauty to 
the exterior ; their clustered columns, airy-like, yet firm ; 
and, surmounting the whole, the tall spire, piled up to an 
almost fearful height towards the heavens, are lasting 
monuments of the genius, scientific skill, and mechanical 
ingenuity of the artists of those times. That person, who, 
from ignorance or prejudice, fully supposes there is no 
architecture but that of the Greeks, would do well to study 
one of these unrivalled specimens of human skill. In so 
doing, unless he closes his eyes against the evidences of his 
senses, he cannot but admit that there is far more genius, 
and more mathematical skill, evinced in one of these 
cathedrals, than would have been requisite in the construc- 
tion of the most celebrated of the Greek temples. Though 
they may not exhibit that simplicity and harmony of pro- 
portion which Grecian buildings display, they abound in 
much higher proofs of genius, as is abundantly evinced in 
the conception and execution of Cathedrals so abounding 
in unrivalled sublimity, variety, and beauty. 

Gothic architecture, in its purity, was characterized 
mainly by the pointed arch. This novel feature in archi- 
tecture, which, probably, in the hands of artists of great 
mathematical skill, was suggested by the inefficiency of the 
Roman arch first used, has given rise to all the superior 
boldness and picturesqueness of this style compared with 
the Grecian ; for while the Greek artist was obliged to 
cover his narrow openings with architraves, or solid blocks 
of stone, resting on columns at short intervals, and filling 
up the open space, the Gothic artist, by a single s})an of 
his pointed arch, resting on distant pillars, kepi the whole 



RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 341 

area beneath free and unencumbered. Applied, too, tc 
openings for the admission of light, which were deemed 
of comparatively little or no importance by the Greeks, the 
arch was of immense value, making it possible to pierce 
the solid wall with large and lofty apertures, that diffused 
a magical brilliancy of light in the otherwise dim and 
shadowy interior. 

We have here adverted to the Gothic cathedral (as we 
did to the Greek temple) as exhibiting the peculiar style in 
question in its greatest purity. For domestic purposes, 
both, for the same reasons, are equally unfitted ; as they 
were never so intended to be used by their original invent- 
ors, and being entirely wanting in fitness for the purposes 
ot habitation in domestic life ; the Greek temple, as we 
have already shown, from its massive porticoes and the 
simple rectangular form of its interior ; and the Gothic 
cathedral, from its high-pointed windows, and immense 
vaulted apartments. It would scarcely, however, be more 
absurd to build a miniature cathedral, for a dwelling in the 
Gothic style, than to make an exact copy of the Temple of 
Minerva 30 by 50 feet in size, for a country residence, as 
we often witness in this country. 

The Gothic Style, as applied to Domestic Architecture, 
has been varied and adapted in a great diversity of ways, 
to the wants of society in different periods, from the 12th 
centui'y to the present time. The baronial castle of feudal 
days, perched upon its solitary, almost inaccessible height, 
and built strongly for defence ; the Collegiate or monastic 
abbey of the monks, suited to the rich fertile plains which 
these jolly ascetics so well knew how to select ; the Tudor 
or Elizabethan mansion, of the English gentleman, sur- 
rounded by its beautiful park, filled with old ancestral trees ; 



342 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



and the pretty, rural, gabled cottage, of more humble pre- 
tensions ; are all varieties of this multiform style, easily 
adapting itself to the comforts and conveniences of private 
life. 

Contrasted with Classic Architecture and its varieties, 
in which horizontal lines are most prevalent, all the differ- 
ent Gothic modes or styles exhibit a preponderance of 
vertical or perpendicular lines.- In the purer Gothic 
Architecture, the style is often determined by the form of 
the arch predominant in the window and door openings, 
which in all edifices (except Norman buildings) were lancet- 
shaped, or high pointed, in the 13th century ; four centred 
or low arched, in the times of Henry VII. and VIII. ; and 
finally square-headed, as in most domestic buildings of 
later date. 

Castellated Gothic is easily known, at first sight, by the 
line of battlements cut out of the solid parapet wall, which 
surmounts the outline of the building in every part. These 
generally conceal the roof, which is low, and were origin- 
ally intended as a shelter to those engaged in defending the 
^''->-.'' " -s building against assaults. 

Modern buildings in the 
castellated style, without 
sacrificing almost every- 
thing to strength, as was 
once necessary, preserve 
the general character of 




the ancient castle, while 



... - S^ 

[Fig. 47. Tlic C^i^tollatc'il Mode. J 

they combine with it almost every modern luxury. In 
their exteriors, we perceive strong and massive octagonal 
or circular towers, rising boldly, with corbelled or project- 
ing cornices, above the ordinary level of the building. The 



RLIRAL ARCHITECTURE. o4o 

windows are either pointed or square-iieaded, or peihaps a 
mixture of both. The porch rises into a turreted and 
embattled gateway, and all the offices and out-buildinga 
connected with the main edifice, are constructed in a style 
corresponding to that exhibited in the main boi:ly of the 
building. The whole is placed on a distinct and firm 
terrace of stone, and the expression of the edifice is that 
of strength and security. 

This mode of building is evidently of too ambitious and 
expensive a kind for a republic, where landed estates are 
not secured by entail, but divided, according to the dictates 
of nature, among the different members of a family. It is, 
perhaps, also rather wanting in appropriateness, castles 
never having been used for defence in this country. 
Notwithstanding these objections, there is no very weighty 
reason why a wealthy proprietor should not erect his 
mansion in the castellated style, if that style be in unison 
with his scenery and locality. Few instances, however, 
of sufficient wealth and taste to produce edifices of this 
kind, are to be met with among us ; and the castellated 
style is therefore one which we cannot fully recommend 
for adoption here. Paltry imitations of it, in materials less 
durable than brick or stone, would be discreditable to any 
person having the least pretension to correct taste. 

The Castellated style never appears completely at home 
except in wild and romantic scenery, or in situations where 
the neighboring; mountains, or wild passes, are sufficiently 
near to give that character to the landscape. In such 
localities the Gothic castle affects us agreeably, because we 
knov/ that baronial castles were generally built in similar 
spots, and because the battlements, towers, and other bold 
features, combine well with the rugged and spirited 



S44: LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

character of the surrounding objects. To place such a 
building in this country on a smooth surface in the midst 
of fertile plains, would immediately be felt to be bad taste 
by every one, as from the style not having been before our 
eyes from ciiildhood, as it is in Europe, we immediately 
refer to its original purposes, — those of security and 
defence. 

A mansion in the Tudor Style affords the best example 
of the excellence of Gothic architecture for domestic 
purposes. The roof often rises boldly here, instead of 
being concealed by the parapet wall, and the gables are 
either plain or ornamented with crockets. The windows 
are divided by mullions, and are generally enriched with 
tracery in a style less florid than that employed in churches, 
but still sufficiently elegant to give an appearance of 
decoration to these parts of the building. Sometimes the 
low, or Tudor arch, is displayed in the window-heads, but 
most commonly the square-headed window with the Gothic 
label is employed. Great latitude is allowed in this 
particular, as well as in the size of the window, provided 
the general details of style are attended to. Indeed, m the 
domestic architecture of this era, the windows and doors 
are often sources of great architectural beauty, instead of 
being left mere bare openings filled with glass, as in the 
Classic styles. Not only is each individual window 
divided by mullions into compartments whose tops are 
encircled by tracery ; but in particular apartments, as the 
dining-hall, library, etc., these are filled with richly stained 
glass, which gives a mellow, pleasing light to the apartment. 
Added to this, the windows, in the best Tudor mansions, 
affect a great variety of forms and sizes. Among these 
stand conspicuous the hay and oriel windows. The bay 




Kk;. 48.— Mr. r;nililiiif:\>; Residence, Tiirryti>\vii, N. V. 




Via. 40.— Uesidoiu-c of the Autlior, iie;ir Ne\vl)iir};li, N. Y. 



RURAL ARCillTECTURE. rj4o 

window, which is introduced on the first or principal floor, 
in most apartments of much size or importance, is a 
window of treble or quadruple the common size, projecting 
from the main body of the room in a semi-octagonal or 
hexagonal form, thereby affording more space in the 
apartment, from the floor to the ceiling, as well as giving 
an abundance of light, and a fine prospect in any favorite 
direction. This, while it has a grander eftect than several 
windows of moderate size, gives a variety of form and 
outline to the different apartments, that can never be so 
well attained when the windows are mere openings cut in 
the solid walls. The oriel-window is very similar to the 
bay-window, but projecting in a similar manner from the 
upper story, supported on corbelled mouldings. These 
windows are not only elegant in the interior, but by 
standing out from the face of the walls, they prevent any. 
thing like too great a formality externally, and bestow a 
pleasing variety on the diflferent fronts of the building. 

The sky outline of a villa in the Tudor Gothic style, i.s 
highly picturesque. It is made up of many fine features. 
The pointed gables, with their finials, are among the most 
striking, and the neat parapet wall, either covered with a 
moulded coping, or, perhaps, diversified with battlements ; 
the latter not so massive as in the castellated style, but 
evidently intended for ornament only. The roof line is 
often varied by the ornamented gablet of a dormer window, 
rising here and there, and adding to the quaintness of the 
whole. We must not forget, above all, the highly enriched 
chimney shaft, which, in the English examples, is made of 
fancifully moulded bricks, and is carried up in clusters 
some distance above the roof How much more pleasing 
for a dwellins must be the outline of such a buildin<i than 



340 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

that of a simple square I'oof whose summit is one unbroken 
straight line !* 

The inclosed entrance porch, approached by three or 
four stone steps, with a seat or two for servants waiting, is 
a distinctive mark of all the old English houses. This 
projects, in most cases, from the main body of the edifice, 
and opens directly into the hall. The latter apartment is 
not merely (as in most of our modern houses) an entry, 
)iarrow and long, running directly through the house, but 
has a peculiar character of its own, being rather spacious, 
the roof or ceiling ribbed or groined, and the floor often 
inlaid with marble tiles. A corresponding and suitable 
style of finish, with Gothic details, runs through all the 
different apartments, each of which, instead of being 
finished and furnished with the formal sameness here so 
prevalent, displays, according to its peculiar purposes — 
as the dining-room, drawing-room, library, etc. — a marked 
and characteristic air. 

We have thus particularized the Tudor mansion, because 
we believe that for a cold country like England or the 
United States, it has strong claims upon the attention of 
large landed proprietors, or those who wish to realize in a 
country residence the greatest amount of comfort and 
enjoyment. With the addition, here, of a veranda, which 
the cool summers of England render needless, we believe 
the Tudor Gothic to be the most convenient and com- 
fortable, and decidedly the most picturesque and striking 

* Two miles south of Albany, on a densely wooded hill, is the villa of Joel 
Rathbonc, Esq., Fig. 50, one of the most complete specimens of the Tudoi 
style in the United States. It was built from the designs of Davis, and is 
to the amateur, a very instructive example of this mode of domestic arciij 
tec Cure. 




Fiu. 50.- 



-Kesi.lence of Joel Kathbone, Esq., near Albany, N. Y. 




Fig. 51. — C 



otlaae ol' S. E. Lvon, Ks,,., White I'lain.s. N. V 




Fm. 52.— Cottage Residence of Thomas W. Ludlow, near Yonkcrs, N. Y. 




KiG. 53.— Residence of Wasliiiurtoii Irvin';-. Ks(|., near Tanylown. N. V. 



RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 347 

Style, for country residences of a superior class.* The 
materials generally employed in their construction in 
England, are stone aud brick ; and of late years, brick 
and stucco has come into very general use. 

The Elizabethan Style, that mode of building so com- 
mon in England in the 17th century, — a mixture oi 
Gothic and Grecian in its details — is usually considered as 
a barbarous kind of architecture, wanting in purity of 
taste. Be this as it may, it cannot be denied that in the 
finer specimens of this style, there is a surprising degree 
of richness and picturesqueness for which we may look in 
vain elsewhere. In short it seems, in the best examples, 
admirably fitted for a bowery, thickly foliaged country, 
like England, and for the great variety of domestic 
enjoyments of its inhabitants. In the most florid examples 
of this style, of which many specimens yet remain, we 
often meet with every kind of architectural feature and 
ornament, oddly, and often grotesquely combined — pointed 
gables, dormer-windows, steep and low roofs, twisted 
columns, pierced parapets, and broad windows with small 
lights. Sometimes the effect of this fantastic combination 
is excellent, but often bad. The florid Elizabethan style 
is, therefore, a very dangerous one in the hands of any 
one but an architect of profound taste ; but we think in 
some of its simpler forms (Fig. 52), it may be adopted for 
country residences here in picturesque situations with a 
quaint and happy efTect.f 

• The residence of Samuel E. Lyon, Esq., at White Plains, N. Y., Fig. 51, 
is a very pleasing example of tlie Tudor Cottage. 

The seat of Robert Gilmor, Esq., near Baltimore, in the Tudor style, is a 
very extensive pile of building. 

t A highly unique residence in the old English sylc, is Pelham Priory, the 
seal of the Rev. Robert Bolton, near New Rochelle, N. Y., Fig. 63. Thg 



348 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Tne English cottage style, or what we have denominated 
Rural Gothic, contains within itself all the most striking 
and peculiar elements of the beautiful and picturesque in 
Its exterior, while it admits of the greatest possible variety 
of accommodation and convenience in internal arrange- 
ment. 

In its general composition, Rural Gothic really differs 
from the Tudor style more in that general simjjlicity 
which serves to distinguish a cottage or villa of moderate 
size from a mansion, than in any marked character of its 
own. The square-headed windows preserve the same 
form, and display the Gothic label and mullions, though 
the more expensive finish of decorative tracery is fre- 
quently omitted. Diagonal or latticed lights are also more 
commonly seen in the cottage style than in the mansion. 
The general form and arrangement of the building, though 
of course much reduced, is not unlike that of the latter 
edifice. The entrance porch is always preserved, and the 
bay-window jutting out from the best apartment, gives 
variety, and an agreeable expression of use and enjoyment, 
to almost every specimen of the old English cottage. 

Perhaps the most striking feature of this charming style 
as we see it in the best old English cottages, is the pointed 
gable. This feature, which grows out of the high roofs 

pxteiior is massive and picturesque, in the simplest taste of the Elizabethan 
age, and being built amidst a fine oak wood, of the dark rough stone of the 
neighborhood, it has at once the appearance of considerable aritiquity. The 
interior is constracted and fitted up throughout in the same feeling, — with 
harmonious wainscoting, quaint carving, massive chimney pieces, and old 
furniture and armor. Indeed, we doubt if there is, at the present moment 
any recent private residence, even in England, where the spirit of the antique 
is more entirely carried out, and where one may more easily fancy himself in 
one of those " mansions builded curiously" of our ancestors in the time of 
■* good Queen Bess " 



RUUAL ARCHITECTURE. 349 

adopted, hot only appears in the two ends of the main 
building, but terminates every wing or projection of almost 
any size that joins to the principal body of the house. The 
gables are either of stone or brick, with a handsome 
moulded coping, or they are finished with the widely pro- 
jecting roof of wood, and verge hoards, carved in a fanciful 
and highly decorative shape. In either case, the point or 
apex is crowned by a finial, or ornamental octagonal shaft, 
rendering the gable one of the greatest sources of interest 
in these dwellings. The projecting roof renders the walls 
always dry. 

The porch, the labelled windows, the chimney shafts, 
and the ornamented gables, being the essential features in 
the composition of the English cottage style, it is evident 
that this mode of building is highly expressive of purpose, 
for country residences of almost every description and size, 
from the humblest peasant's cottage, to the beautiful and 
picturesque villa of the retired gentleman of fortune. In 
the simple form of the cottage, the whole may be con- 
structed of wood very cheaply, and in the more elaborate 
villa residence, stone, or brick and cement, may be preferred, 
as being more permanent. No style so readily admits of 
enrichment as that of the old English cottage when on a 
considerable scale ; and by the addition of pointed verandas, 
bay windows, and dormer-windows, by the introduction of 
muUions and tracery in the window openings, and indeed, 
b}^ a multitude of interior and exterior enrichments gene- 
rally applied to the Tudor mansions, a villa in the rural 
Gothic style may be made a perfect gem of a country 
residence. Of all the styles hitherto enum.erated, we con- 
.sider this one of the most suitable for this country, as, 
while it comes within the reach of all persons <^f raoderatrj 



350 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

means, it unites, as we before stated, so much of conve- 
nience and rural beauty.* 

To the man of taste, there is no style which presents 
greater attractions, being at once rich in picturesque 
beauty, and harmonious in connexion with the surroundiD;^ 
forms of vegetation. The Grecian villa, with its simple 
forms and horizontal lines, seems to us only in good keeping 
when it is in a smooth, highly cultivated, peaceful scene. 
But the Rural Gothic, the lines of which point upwards, in 
the pyramidal gables, tall clusters of chimneys, finials, and 
the several other portions of its varied outline, harmonizes 
easily with the tall trees, the tapering masses of foliage, or 
the surrounding hills ; and while it is seldom or never 
misplaced in spirited rural scenery, it gives character and 
picturesque expression to many landscapes entirely devoid 
of that quality. 

What we have already said in speaking of the Italian 
style, respecting the facility with which additions may be 
made to irregular houses, applies with equal, or even 
greater force, to the varieties of the Gothic style, just 
described. From the very fact that the highest beauty of 
these modes of building arises from their irregularity 
(opposed to Grecian architecture, which, in its chaste 
simplicity, should be regular), it is evident that additions 



* The only objection that can be urged against this mode of building, is that 
which applies to all cottages with a low second story, viz. want oF coolness in 
the sleeping chambers during mid-summer. An evil which may be remedied 
by constructing a false inner-roof — leaving a vacuity between the two roofs of 
sL'i or eight inches, which being occupied with air and ventilated at the top, will 
almost entirely obviate the objection. 

In our Cottage Residences, Design II., we have shown how the comfort of 
a full second story, sui.ablo i/cr this climate, may be combined with the expre* 
f^ioa of the Englifh cottage style. 



RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 351 

judiciously made will tend to increase this beauty, or all'ora 
more facility for its display ; while it is equally evident 
that in the interior arrangement, including apartments of 
every description, superior opportunities are afforded for ^■ 
attaining internal comfort and convenience, as well as 
external effect. 

The ideas connected in our minds with Gothic 
architecture are of a highly romantic and poetical nature 
contrasted with the classical associations which the 
Greek and Roman styles suggest. Although our own 
country is nearly destitute of ruins and ancient time- 
worn edifices, yet the literature of Europe, and particularly 
of what we term the mother country, is so much our own, 
tliat we form a kind of delightful ideal acquaintance with 
the venerable castles, abbeys, and strongholds of the 
middle ages. Romantic as is the real history of those 
times and places, to our minds their charm is greatly 
enhanced by distance, by the poetry of legendary 
superstition, and the fascination of fictitious narrative. 
A casteyated residence, therefore, in a wild and pictur- 
esque situation, may be interesting, not only from its being 
perfectly in keeping with surrounding nature, but from 
the delightful manner in which it awakens associations- 
fraught with the most enticing history of the past. 

The older domestic architecture of the English may bt 
viewed in another pleasing light. Their buildings and 
residences have not only the recommendation of beauty 
and complete adaptation, but the additional charm o^* 
having been the homes of our ancestors, and the dwellings 
of that bright galaxy of English genius and worth, which 
illuminates equally the intellectual firmament of both 
hemispheres. He who has extended his researches, c^r^ 



352 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

amore, into the history of the domestic life and habits of 
those illustrious minds, will not, we are sure, forget that 
lowly cottage by the side of the Avon, where the great 
English bard was wont to dwell ; the tasteful residence 
of Pope at Twickenham ; or the turrets and battlements 
of the more picturesque Abbotsford ; and numberless other 
examples of the rural buildings of England, once the 
abodes of renowned genius. In truth, the cottage and 
villa architecture of the English has grown out of the 
feelings and habits of a refined and cultivated people, 
whose devotion to country life, and fondness for all its 
pleasures, are so finely displayed in the beauty of their 
dwellings, and the exquisite keeping of their buildings and 
grounds. 

It is this love of rural life, and this nice feeling of 
the harmonious union of nature and art, that reflects 
so much credit upon the English as a people, and which, 
sooner or later, we hope to see completely naturalized in 
this country. Our rural residences, evincing that love of 
the beautiful and the picturesque, which, combine<l with 
solid comfort, is so attractive to the eye of every beholder, 
will not only become sources of the purest enjoyment to 
the refined minds of the possessors, but will exert an 
influence for the improvement in taste of every class in 
our community. The ambition to build " shingle palaces" 
in starved and meagre grounds, we are glad to see giving 
way to that more refined feeling which prefers a neat villa 
or cottage, tastily constructed, and surrounded by its proper 
accessories, of greater or less extent, of verdant trees and 
beautiful shrubbery. 

It is gratifying to see the progressive improvement in 
Rural Architecture, which within a few years past baa 
evinced itself in various parts of the country, and par- 




Fig. 54. — A Mansion in tlie Elizabethan Stvle. 




Kii;. .-io.— Tlio Uesidence of tlio Rev. Kobcrl K..Uon. near New Koeliello, N. V. 



fcURAL ARCHITECTURE. 353 

ticularly on the banks of the Hudson and Connecticut 
Rivers, as well as in the suburbs of our largest cities. 
Here and there, beautiful villas and cottages in the ItaHan 
or old English styles, are being erected by proprietors who 
feel the pre-eminent beauty of these modes for domestic 
architecture. And from the rapidity with which improve 
ments having just claims for public favor advance in our 
community, we have every reason to hope that our Rural 
Architecture will soon exhibit itself in a more attractive 
and agreeable form than it has hitherto generally assumed. 
We take pleasure in referring to a few of these buildings 
more in detail. 

The cottage of Thomas W. Ludlow, Esq., near Yonkers, 
on the Hudson (Fig. 54), is one of the most complete 
examples on this river. The interior is very carefully 
and harmoniously finished, the apartments are agreeably 
arranged, and the general effect of the exterior is varied 
and pleasing. 

There is scarcely a building or place more replete with 

interest in America, than the cottage of Washington 

Irving, near Tarrytown (Fig. 55). The " Legend of 

Sleepy Hollow," so delightfully told in the Sketch-Book, 

has made every one acquainted with this neighborhood, 

and especially with the site of the present building, there 

celebrated as the "Van Tassel House," one of the most 

secluded and delightful nooks on the banks of the Hudson. 

With characteristic taste, Mr. Irving has chosen this spot, 

the haunt of his early days, since rendered classic ground 

by his elegant pen, and made it his permanent residence. 

The house of " Baltus Van Tassel" has been altered and 

rebuilt in a quaint style, partaking somewhat of the 

English cottage mode, but retaining strongly marked 

symptoms of its Dutch origin The quaint old weather- 

23 



"54 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING. 

cocks and finials, the crow-stepped gables, and the hal 
paved with Dutch tiles, are among the ancient and 
venerable ornaments of the houses of the original 
settlers of Manhattan, now almost extinct among us. 
There is also a quiet keeping in the cottage and th 
grounds around it, that assists in making up the charm 
of the whole ; the gently swelling slope reaching down 
to the water's edge, bordered by prettily wooded ravines 
through which a brook meanders pleasantly ; and thread- 
ed by foot-paths ingeniously contrived, so as sometimes 
to afford secluded walks, and at others to allow fine 
vistas of the broad expanse of river scenery. The 
cottage itself is now charmingly covered with ivy and 
climbing roses, and embosomed in thickets of shrubbery. 

Mr. Sheldon's residence, in the same neighborhood, 
furnishes us with another example of the Rural Gothic 
mode, worth the study of the amateur. Captain Perry's 
spirited cottage, near Sing Sing, partakes of the same fea- 
tures ; and we might add numerous other cottages now 
building, or in contemplation, which show how fast the 
feeling for something more expressive and picturesque 
is making progress among us. 

Mr. "Warren's residence, at Troy, N. Y., is a very 
pretty example of the English cottage, elegantly fin- 
ished internally, as well as externally. A situation in 
a valley, embosomed with luxuriant trees, would have 
given this building a more appropriate and charming 
air than its present one, which, however, affords a 
magnificent prospect of the surrounding country. 

It is the common practice here to place a portion of 
what are called the domestic offices, as the kitchen 
pantries, etc., in the basement story of the house 



RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 355 

directly beneath the Uving rooms. This has partly 
arisen from the circumstance of the comparative economy 
of this method of constructing them under the same 
roof; and partly from the difficulty of adding wings to 
the main building for those purposes, which will not 
.mar the simplicity and elegance of a Grecian villa. In 
the better class of houses in England, the domestic 
offices, which include the kitchen and its appurtenances, 
and also the stable, coach-house, harness-room, etc., are 
in the majority of cases attached to the main body of 
the building on one side. The great advantage of 
having all these conveniences on the same floor with 
the principal rooms, and communicating in such a way 
as to be easily accessible at all times without going into 
the open air, is undeniable. It must also be admitted that 
these domestic offices, extending out from the main 
building, partly visible and partly concealed by trees and 
foliage, add much to the extent and importance of a villa 
or mansion in the country. In the old English style these 
appendages are made to unite happily with the building, 
which is in itself irregular. Picturesque effect is certainly 
increased by thus extending the pile and increasing the 
variety of its outline. 

A blind partiality for any one style in building is detri- 
mental to the progress of improvement, both in taste and 
comfort. The variety of means, habits, and local feehngs, 
will naturally cause many widely different tastes to arise 
among us ; and it is only by the means of a number of 
distinct styles, that this diversity of tastes can be accom- 
modated. There will always be a large class of individuals 
in every country who prefer a plain square house because 
it is more economical, and because they have little feeling 



356 LANDSCAPE GAUDENING. 

for architectural, or, indeed, any other species of beauty. 
But besides such, there will always be found some men of 
fmer natures, who have a sympatnetic appreciation of the 
beautiful in nature and art. Among these, the classical 
scholar and gentleman may, from association and the love 
of antiquity, prefer a villa in the Grecian or Roman style: 
He who has a passionate love of pictures and especially 
fine landscapes, will perhaps, very naturally, prefer the 
modern Italian style for a country residence, . The wealthy 
proprietor, either from the romantic and chivalrous asso- 
ciations connected with the baronial castle, or from desire 
to display his own resources, may indulge his fancy in 
erecting a castellated dwelling. The gentleman who 
wishes to realize the heau ideal of a genuine old English 
country residence, with its various internal comforts, and 
its spirited exterior, may establish himself in a Tudor villa 
or mansion ; and the lover of nature and rural life, who, 
with more limited means, takes equal interest in the beauty 
of his grounds or garden (however small) and his house — 
who is both an admirer of that kind of beauty called the 
picturesque, and has a lively perception of the effect of a 
happy adaptation of buildings to the landscape, — such a 
person will very naturally make choice of the rural cottage 
style. 



Entrance Lodges are not only handsome architectural 
objects in the scenery of country residences of large size, 
DUt are in many cases exceedingly convenient, both to the 
family and the guests or visitors having frequent ingress 
and egress. The entrance lodge may further be considered 
a matter strictly useful, in serving as the dwelling of the 



RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 357 

gardeuer or farmer and his family. In this point of view, 
arrangements for the comfort and convenience of the 
inmates should be regarded as more important than the 
fanciful decoration of the exterior — as no exterior, however 
charming, can, to a reflective and well regulated mind, 
apologize for contracted apartments, and imperfect light 
and ventilation, in human habitations. 

Among the numerous entrance lodges which we remember 
to have seen in the United States, we scarcely recall a single 
example where the means, or rather the facility, of opening 
and shutting the gate itself, has been sufficiently considered. 
Most generally the lodge is at too great a distance from the 
gate, consuming too much time in attendance, and exposing 
the persons attending, generally women or children, to the 
inclemencies of the weather. Besides this, service of this 
kind is less cheerfully performed in this country than in 
Europe, from the very simple reason of the greater equality 
of conditions here, and therefore everything which tends 
to lessen labor, is worthy of being taken into account. 

For these reasons we would place the gate very near the 
lodge ; it would be preferable if it were part of the same 
architectural composition : and if possible adopt the con- 
trivance now in use at some places abroad, by which the 
gate, being hung nearest the building, m.ay be opened by 
the occupant without the latter being seen, or being 
scarcely obliged to leave his or her employment.* This 

* In Fig. 5C, is shown the section of a gate arranged upon this plan. At 
the bottom of the hanging pest of the gate, is a bevelled iron pinion, that works 
into another pinion, h, at the end of the horizontal shaft, a, which shaft is fixed 
in a square box or tunnel under the road. The part to the right of the partition 
line, /, is the interior of the gate-keeper's house ; and by turning the winch, e, 
tlie upright shaft, c, is put in motion, which moves by means of the bevelled 
pinions, g, d, the shaft a, and therefore, through d, the back post of the gate. 



358 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



is certainly the ultimatum of improvements in gate lodges ; 
and where it cannot be attained, something may still be 
done towards amelioration, by placing the gate within a 
convenient distance, instead of half a dozen rods apart 
from the lodge, as is frequently done. 

That the entrance lodge should correspond in style with 
the mansion, is a maxim insisted upon by all writers on 
Rural Architecture. Where the latter is built in a mixed 
style, there is more latitude allowed in the choice of forms 
for the lodge, which may be considered more as a thing by 
itself. But where the dwelling is a strictly architectural 
composition, the lodge should correspond in style, and bear 
evidence of emanating from the same mind. A variation 
of the same style may be adopted with pleasing effect, as a 




[Fig. 56. Plan for opening the gate from the interior of the Lodge.] 



lodge in the form of the old English cottage for a castellatea 

which is opened and shut by the motion of the winch, without obliging tno 
nmates to leave the house. 

A very convenient way we have found of opening a gate from a lodge, wlieB 
at right angles to each other, is by passing a light chain from the latch of the gat» 
through the walls of the house into the usual sitting-room— here to turn on » 
crank, or simply pulled hand over hand, as the sailors term it. The gat» 
being hung a little out of plumb, is held open from the house, by the chain, 
until a carriage passes, and falls back again, from its own inclination, against y 
;.og, or projection in the gate-pier to receive it. — 11. W. S. 



RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 



359 



rxiansion, or a Doric lodge for a Corinthian villa ; but never 
two distinct styles on the same place (a Gothic gate-house 
and a Grecian residence) without producing in minds 
imbued with correct principles a feeling of incongruity. 
A certain correspondence in size is also agreeable ; where 
I he dwelling of the proprietor is simply an ornamental 
cottage, the lodge, if introduced, should be more simple and 
unostentatious ; and even where the house is magnificent, 
the lodge should rather be below the general air of the 
residence than above it, thai the stranger who enters at a 
showy and striking lodge may not be disappointed in the 
want of correspondence between it and the remaining? 
portions of the demesne. 




[Fig. 5T. The New Gate Lodge at Blithewood.] 



The gate-lodge at Blithewood, on the Hudson, the seat 
of R. Donaldson, Esq., is a simple and effective cottage in 
the bracketed style — octagonal in its form, and very com- 
pactly arranged internally. 

Nearly all the fine seats on the North river have entrance 



360 



I-ANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



lodges — often simple and but little ornamented, or only 

_ pleasingly embowered in 

foliage ; but, occasional- 
ly, highly picturesque and 
striking in appearance. 

A view of the pretty 
gate lodge at Nether- 
wood, Duchess County 
rr,„;;o TV. o . T J .X, .u .. N. Y., the seat of Gardi- 

fngoS. The Gate Lodge at Netherwood.] 

ner Rowland, Esq., is shown in Fig. 58. Half a mile 
north of this seat is an interesting lodge in the Swis? 
style, at the entrance to the residence of Mrs. Sheafe. 

In Fig. 59, is shown an elevation of a lodge in the Italian 
style, with projecting eaves supported by cantilevers or 
brackets, round-headed windows with balconies, character- 
istic porch, and other leading features of this style. 











[Fig. 53. Gate Lodge in the Italian style.] 



Mr. Repton has stated it as a principle in the composition 
of residences, that neither the house should be visible from 
the entrance nor the entrance from the house, if there be 
sufficient distance between them to make the approach 
through varied grounds, or a park, and not immediately 
into a court-yard. 



RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 



3G1 



Entrance lodges, and indeed all small ornaniCntal build- 
ings, should be supported, and partially concealed, by trees 
and foliage ; naked walls, in the country, hardly admitting 
of an apology in any case, but especially when the building 
is ornamental, and should be considered part of a whole, 
grouping with other objects in rural landscape. 



Note. — To readers who desire to cultivate a taste for rural architecture, we 
take pleasure in recommending the following productions of the English pressS. 
Loudon's Encyclopmdia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture, a volume 
replete with information on every branch of the subject ; Robinson's Bural 
Architecture and Designs for Ornamental Villas; Lugar's Villa Archi- 
tecture; Goodwin's Bural Architecture ; Hunt's Picturesque Domestic 
Architecture, and Examples of Tudor Architecture ; Pugin's Examples of 
Gothic Architecture, eiQ. The most successful American architects in thia 
branch of the art, with whom we are acquainted, are Alexander J. Davis, Esq., 
of New York, and John Notman, Esq., of Philadelphia. 




[Fig. 00. The Gardener's House, Blithewood.) 



802 



LANDSCAPE riARDENlNG. 



SECTION X. 



EMBELLISHMENTS ; ARCHITECTURAL, RUSTIC, AND FLORAL. 

/alue of a proper connexion between the house and grounds. Beauty of the architectural 
terrace, and its application to villas and cottages. Use of vases of different descriptions 
Sun-dials. Architectural flower-garden. Irregular flower-garden. French flower-garden. 
English flower-garden. General remarks on this subject. Selection of showy plants, 
flowering in succession. Arrangement of the shrubbery, and selection of choice shrubs. 
The conservatory or green-house. Open and covered seats. Pavilions. Rustic seats. 
Prospect tower. Bridges. Rockwork. Fountains of various descriptions. Jujlicious 
introduction of decorations. 

Nature, assuming a more lovely face. 
Borrowing a beauty from the works of grace. 

CowrEK. 



Each odorous bushy shrub 

Fenced up the verdant wall ; each beauteous flower ; 
Iris all hues, Roses and Jessamine 
Rear'd high their flourished heads between. 
And wrought Mosaic. 

Mn.iON. 




N our finest places, or those 
country seats where much of 
the polish of pleasure ground 
or park scenery is kept up, one of the most striking defects 
IS the want of " union hetive.en the house and the grounds." 



EMBELLISHMENTS. 3(33 

We are well aware that from the comparative rarity of any- 
thing like a highly kept place in this country, the want of 
this, which is indeed like the last finish to the residence, is 
scarcely felt at all. But this only proves the infant state 
of Landscape Gardening here, and the little attention that 
has been paid to the highest details of the art. 

If our readers will imagine, with us, a pretty villa, con- 
veniently arranged and well constructed, in short, complete 
in itself as regards its architecture, and at the same time, 
properly placed in a smooth well kept lawn, studded with 
groups and masses of fine trees, they will have an example 
often to be met with, of a place, in the graceful school of 
design, about which, however, there is felt to be a certain 
nicongruity between the house, a highly artificial object, 
and the surrounding grounds, where the prevailing ex- 
pression in the latter is that of beautiful nature. 

Let us suppose, for further illustration, the same house 
and grounds with a few additions. The house now rising 
directly out of the green turf which encompasses it, we 
will surround by a raised platform or terrace, wide enough 
for a dry, firm walk, at all seasons ; on the top of the wall 
or border of this terrace, we will form a handsome parapet, 
or balustrade, some two or three feet high, the details of 
which shall be in good keeping with the house, whether 
Grecian or Gothic. On the coping of this parapet, if the 
house is in the classical style, we will find suitable places, 
at proper intervals, for some handsome urns, vases, etc. 
On the drawing-room side of the house, that is, the side 
towards which the best room or rooms look, we will place 
the flower-garden, into which we descend from the terrace 
by a few steps. This flower-garden may be simply what 
its name denotes, a place exclusively devoted to the culti- 



3G4 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

vation of flowers, or (if the house is not in a very plain 
style, admitting of little enrichment) it may be an archi- 
tectural flower-gai'den. In the latter case, intermingled 
with the flowers, are to be seen vases, fountains, and some- 
times even statues ; the eflect of the fine colors and deep 
foliage of the former, heightened by contrast with the 
sculptured forms of the latter. 

If our readers will now step back a few rods with us and 
take a second \jew of our villa residence, with its 
supposed harmonizing accessories, we think they can hardly 
fail to be impressed at once with the great improvement 
of the whole. The eye now, instead of witnessing the 
sudden termination of the architecture at the base of the 
house, where the lawn commences as suddenly, will be at 
once struck with the increased variety and richness 
imparted to the whole scene, by the addition of the archi- 
tectural and garden decorations. The mind is led 
gradually down from the house, with its projecting porch 
or piazzas, to the surrounding terrace crowned with its 
beautiful vases, and from thence to the architectural 
flower-garden, interspersed with similar ornaments. The 
various play of light afforded by these sculptured forms on 
the terrace ; the projections and recesses of the parapet, 
with here and there some climbing plants luxuriantly 
enwreathing it, throwing out the mural objects in stronger 
relief, and connecting them pleasantly with the verdure of 
the turf beneath ; the still further rambling off" of vases, 
etc., into the brilliant flower-garden, which, through these 
ornaments, maintains an avowed connexion with the 
architecture of the house; all this, we think it cannot be 
denied, forms a rich setting to the architecture, and unites 



EMBELLISHMENTS. 3G5 

agreeably the forms of surrounding nature with the more 
regular and uniform outlines of the building. 

The effect will not be less pleasing if viewed from 
another point of view, viz. the terrace, or from the apart- 
ments of the house itself. From either of these points, the 
various objects enumerated, will form a rich foreground 
to the pleasure-grounds or park — a matter which painters 
well know how to estimate, as a landscape is incomplete 
and unsatisfactory to them, however beautiful the middle 
or distant points, unless there are some strongly marked 
objects in the foreground. In fine, the intervention of 
these elegant accompaniments to our houses prevents us, 
as Mr. Hope has observed, " from launching at once from 
the threshold of the symmetric mansion, in the most abrupt 
manner, into a scene wholly composed of the most 
unsymmetric and desuftory forms of mere nature, which 
are totally out of character with the mansion, whatever 
may be its style of architecture and furnishing."* 

The highly decorated terrace, as we have here supposed 
it, would, it is evident, be in unison with villas of a some- 
what superior style ; or, in other words, the amount of 
enrichment bestowed upon exterior decoration near the 
house, should correspond to the style of art evinced in the 
exterior of the mansion itself An humble cottage with 
sculptured vases on its terrace and parapet, would be in 
bad taste ; but any Grecian, Roman, or Italian villa, where 
a moderate degree of exterior ornament is visible, or a 
Gothic villa of the better class, will allow the additional 
enrichment of the architectural terrace and its ornaments. 
Indeed the terrace itself, in so far as it denotes a raised dry 

♦ Essay on Ornamental Gardening, by Thomas Hope. 



566 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

platform around the house, is a suitable and appropriatfi 
appendage to every dwelling, of whatever class. 

The width of a terrace around a house may vary from 
five to twenty feet, or more, in proportion as the building 
is of greater or less importance. The surrounding wall, 
which supports its level, may also vary from one to eight 
feet. The terrace, in the better class of English residences, 
is paved with smooth flag stones, or in place of this, a sur- 
face of firm well-rolled gravel is substituted. In residences 
where a parapet or balustrade would be thought too 
expensive, a square stone or plinth is placed at the angles 
or four corners of the terrace, which serves as the pedestal 
for a vase or urn. When a more elegant and finished 
appearance is desirable, the parapet formed of open work 
of stone, or wood painted in imitation of stone, rises above 
the level of the terrace two or three feet with a suitably 
bold coping. On this vases may be placed, not only at the 
corners, but at regular intervals of ten, twenty, or more 
feet. We have alluded to the good effect of climbers, here 
and there planted, and suffered to intermingle their rich 
foliage with the open work of the parapet and its crowning 
ornaments. In the climate of Philadelphia, the Giant Ivy, 
with its thick sculpturesque looking masses of foliage, 
would be admirably suited to this purpose. Or the Vir- 
ginia Creeper (Uie Ivy of America) may take its place in 
any other portion of the Union. To these we may add, 
the Chinese twining Honeysuckle (Lonicera flexuosa) and 
the Sweet-scented Clematis, both deliciously fragrant in 
their blossoms, with many other fine climbers which will 
readixy recur to the amateur. 

There can be no reason why the smallest cottage, if its 
occupant be a person of taste should not have a terrace 



ExMBELLlSIIMENTS. oG7 

decorated in a suitable manner. This is easily and cheapl} 
effected by placing neat flower-pots on the parapet, oi 
border and angles of the terrace, with suitable plants grow- 
ing in them. For this purpose, the American or Century 
Aloe, a foil/^al architectural-looking plant, is exceedingly 
well adapted, as it always preserves nearly the 
ji^ same appearance. Or in place of this, the 
J/fiS Yuccas, or "Adanic needle and thread," 
^Tff li'l Y\\ ^'^''^^c^i have something of the same character, 
^ ^^"" - while they also produce beautiful heads of 



ri'ig. 61.] flowers, may be chosen. Yucca Jlaccida is a 

fine hardy species, which would look well ,x-. 

... A I • 'SF^-' 

ui such a situation. An aloe m a common .■^P' 



flower pot is shown in Fig. 61 ; and a ^^^ 

Vucca in an ornamental flower-pot in — ^^ 

Where there is a terrace ornamented wdth urns or vases, 
and the proprietor wishes to give a corresponding air of 
elegance to his grounds, vases, sundials, etc., may be placed 
in various appropriate situations, not only in the architec 
tural flower-garden, but on the lawn, and through the 
pleasure-grounds in various different points near the house 
Yie say near the house, because we think so highly arti- 
ficial and architectural an object as a sculptured vase, is 
never correctly introduced unless it appear in some way 
connected with buildings, or objects of a like architectural 
character. To place a beautiful vase in a distant part of 
the grounds, where there is no direct allusion to art, and 
where it is accompanied only by natural objects, as the 
overhanging trees and the sloping turf, is in a measure 
doing violence to our reason or taste, by bringing two 
objocta so strongly contrasted, in direct union. But when 



368 LANDSCAPE G VRDENING. 

we see a statue or a vase placed in any part of the grounds 
where a near view is obtained of the house (and its accom- 
panying statues or vases), the whole is accounted for, and 
we feel the distant vase to be only a part of, or rather a 
repetition of the same idea, — in other words, that it forms 
part of a whole, harmonious and consistent. 

Vases of real stone, as marble or granite, are decorations 
of too costly a kind ever to come into general use among 
us. Vases, however, of equally beautiful forms, are manu- 
factui'ed of artificial stone, of fine pottery, or of cast iron, 
which have the same effect, and are of nearly equal dura- 
bility, as garden decorations. 

A vase should never, in the open air, be set down upon 
the ground or grass, without being placed upon a firm base 
of some description, either a plinth or a pedestal. Without 
a base of this kind it has a temporary look, as if it had been 
left there by mere accident, and without any intention of 
permanence. Placing it upon a pedestal, or square plinth 
(block of stone), gives it a character of art, at once more 
dignified and expressive of stability. Besides this, the 
pedestal in reality serves to preserve the vase in a perpen- 
dicular position, as well as to expose it fairly to the eye, 
which could not be the case were it put down, without any 
preparation, on the bare turf or gravel. 

Figure 63 is a Gothic, and Figures GJ:, (jo, are 
Grecian vases, commonly manufactured in plaster 
in our cities, but which are also made of Roman 
cement. They are here shown upon suitable 
pedestals — a being the vase, and h the pedestal. 
These with many other elegant vases and urns are 
manufactured in an artificial stone, as durable as 

CFig. 63.] 

marble, by Austin of London, and together with a great 




EMBELLISHMENTS. 



369 



variety of other beautiful sculpturesque decorations, may 
be imported at very reasonable prices. 

Figures 61, 65, are beautiful vases of pottery ware 
manufactured by Peake, of Staffordshire — and which may 
be imported cheaply, or will be made to order at the Sala- 
mander -Cvorks, in New York. These vases, when colored 
<i M!r^j^ji^LK:_.>::^^~^ to imitate marble or other stone, are ex 
tremely durable and very ornamental. 
As yet, we are unable to refer our readers 
to any manufactory here, where these 
articles are made in a manner fully equal 
to the English ; but we are satisfied, it is 
only necessary that the taste for such 
articles should increase, and the conse- 
quent demand, to induce our artisans to 
produce them of equal beauty and of 




j 


1 










____^ 


^ 



[Fig. C4.] 

greater cheapness. 

At Blithewood, the seat of R. Donaldson, Esq., on tho 

Hudson, a number of exquisite vases may ^v^.^ja^j^a'^ao.-^-^j.^^^ 

bo seen in the pleasure-grounds, which are 

cut in Maltese stone. These were imported 

by the proprietor, direct from Malta, at very 

moderate rates, and are not only ornamen- 
tal, but very durable. Their color is a 

warm shade of grey which harmonizes 
agreeably with the surround- 
ing vegetation. 

Large vases are sometimes 
filled with earth and planted with choice flow- 
ering plants, and the effect of the blossoms and 
green leaves growing out of these handsome 
receptacles, is at least unique and striking 



cm 





[Fig. «5.] 



[Fig. GO. J 



24 



w 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 




Loudon objects to it in the case of an elegant sculp- 
tured vase, "because it is reducing a work of art to the 
level of a mere garden flower-pot, and dividing the 
attention between the beauty of the form of the vase 
and of its sculptured ornaments, and that of the plant 
which it contains." This criticism is a just one in its 
general application, especially when vases 
are considered as architectural decorations. 
Occasional deviations, however, may be per- 
mitted, for the sake of producing variety, 
especially in the case of vases used as deco- 
rations in the flower-garden. 

A very pretty and fanciful substitute for 
the sculptured vase, and which may take its 
Dlace in the picturesque landscape, may be 
found in vases or baskets o^ rustic ivork, con- [Fig. 67.] 
itructed of the branches and sections of trees with the 
bark attached. Figure 68 is a re- 
presentation of a pleasing rustic vase 
which we have constructed without 
l^f^ difficulty. A tripod of branches of trees 
forms the pedestal. An octagonal box 
serves as the body or frame of the vase ; 
on this, pieces of birch and hazel (small 
[Fig. 6?.] split limbs covered with the bark) are 

nailed closely, so as to form a sort of mosaic covering to the 
whole exterior. Ornaments of this kind, which may be 
made by the amateur with the assistance of a comm.on 
carpenter, are very suitable for the decoration of the 
grounds and flower-gardens of cottages or picturesque 
villas. An endless variety of forms will occur to an 




EMBELLISHMENTS. 871 

ingenious artist in rustic work, which he may call in to the 

embellishment of rural scenes, without taxing his purse 

heavily. 

Sundials (Fig. 69) are among the oldest decorations foi 

the garden and grounds, and there are scarcely any which 
we think more suitable. They are not merely 
decorative, but have also an useful character, and 
may therefore be occasionally placed in distant 
parts of the grounds, should a favorite walk ter- 
minate there. When we meet daily in our walks 
for a number of years, with one of these silent 
monitors of the flight of time, we become in a 
degree attached to it, and really look upon it as 




Y ry gifted with a species of intelligence, beaming out 



when the sunbeams smile upon its dial-plate. 



[Fig. tjy.-] The Architectural Flower-garden, as we 
have just remarked, has generally a direct connexion with 
the house, at least on one side by the terrace. It may be 
of greater or less size, from twenty feet square to half an 
acre in extent. The leading characteristics of this species 
of flower-garden, are the regular lines and forms employed 
in its beds and walks. The flowers are generally planted 
in beds in the form of circles, octagons, squares, etc., the 
centre of the garden being occupied by an elegant vase, a 
sundial, or that still finer ornament, a fountain, or jet d'eau. 
In various parts of the garden, along the principal walks, 
or in the centre of parterres, pedestals supporting vases, 
urns, or handsome flower-pots with plants, are placed. 
When a highly marked character of art is intended, a 
balustrade, or parapet, resembling that of the terrace to 
which it is connected, is continued round the whole of 



372 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



this garden. Or in other cases the garden is surroundud 
by a thicket of shrubs and low trees, partly concealing it 
from the eye on afl sides but one. 

It is evident that the architectural flower-garden is 
superior to the general flower-garden, as an appendage 
to the house, on two accounts. First, because, as we 
have already shown, it serves an admirable purpose 
n efl^ecting a harmonious union between the house and the 
grounds. And secondly, because we have both the rich 
verdure and gay blossoms of the flowering plants, and the 
more permanent beauty of sculptured forms ; the latter 
heightening the effect of the former by contrast, as well as 
by the rehef they afford the eye in masses of light, amid 
surrounding verdure. 

There are several varieties of general flower-gardens, 
which may be formed near the house. Among these we 
will only notice the iVrf^-M/ff;- flower-garden, the old French 
flower-garden, and the modern or English flower-garden. 

In almost all the different kinds of flower-gardens, two 
methods of forming the beds are observed. One is, to cut 
the beds out of the green turf, which is ever afterwards 




^f>^^cS^^ 






TFig. TO. The Irregular Flower-garden.] 



EMBELLISHMENTS. 373 

kept well-mown or cut for the walks, and the edges pared ; 
the other, to surround the beds with edgings of verdure, as 
box, etc., or some more durable material, as tiles, or cut 
stone, the walks between being covered with gravel. The 
turf is certainly the most agreeable for walking upon in 
the heat of summer, and the dry part of the day ; while 
the gravelled flower-garden affords a dry footing at nearly 
all hours and seasons. 

The irregular flower-garden is surrounded by an irregu- 
lar belt of trees and ornamental shrubs of the choicest 
species, and the beds are varied in outline, as well as 
irregularly disposed, sometimes grouping together, some- 
times standing singly, but exhibiting no uniformity of 
arrangement. An idea of its general appearance may be 
gathered from the accompanying sketch (Fig. TO), which 
may be varied at pleasure. In it the irregular boundary 
of shrubs Is shown at a, the flower-beds h, and the walks e. 

This kind of flower-garden would be a suitable accom- 
paniment to the house and grounds of an enthusiastic 
lover of the picturesque, whose residence is in the Rural 
Gothic style, and whose grounds are also eminently varied 
and picturesque. Or it might form a pretty termination 
to a distant walk in the pleasure-grounds, where it would 
be more necessary that the flower-garden should be in 
keeping with the surrounding plantations and scenery than 
with the house. 

Where the flower-garden is a spot set apart, of any 
regular outline, not of large size, and especially where it is 
attached directly to the house, we think the effect is most 
satisfactory when the beds or walks are laid out in sym- 
metrical forms. Our reasons for this are these : the 
flower-garden, unlike distant portions of the pleasure- 



374 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

ground scenery, is an appendage to the house, seen in the 
same view or moment with it, and therefore should exhibit 
-something of the regularity which characterizes, n a 
greater or less degree, all architectural compositions ; and 
when a given scene is so small as to be embraced in a 
single glance of the eye, regular forms are found to be 
more satisfactory than irregular ones, v.^hich, on so small a 
scale, are apt to appear unmeanmg. 

The French flower-garden is the most fanciful of the 
regular modes of laying out the area devoted to this purpose. 
The patterns or figures employed are often highly intricate, 
and require considerable skill in their formation. The 
walks are either of gravel or smoothly shaven turf, and the 
beds are filled with choice flowering plants. It is evident 
that much of the beauty of this kind of flower-garden, or 
indeed any other where the figures are regular and intri- 
cate, must depend on the outlines of the beds, ov partei^res 
of emhr^oidery , as they are called, being kept distinct and 
clear. To do this eflectually, low growing herbaceous 
plants or border flowers, perennials and annuals, should be 
chosen, such as will not exceed on an average, one or two 
feet in height. 

In the English flower-garden, the beds arc either in 
symmetrical forms and figures, or they are characterized 
by irregular curved outlines. The peculiarity of these 
gardens, at present so fashionable in England, is, that each 
separate bed is planted with a single variety, or at most 
two varieties of flowers. Only the most striking and 
showy varieties are generally chosen, and the effect, when 
the selection is judicious, is highly brilliant. Each bed, in 
its season, presents a mass of blossoms, and the contrast of 
rich colors is much more striking than in any other 



EMBELLISHMENTS. 



37{^ 



arrangement. No plants are admitted that are shy bloom 
OTs, or which have ugly habits of growth, meagre or starved 
foliage ; the aim being brilliant effect, rather than th^ 
display of a great variety of curious or rare plants. To 
bring this about more perfectly, and to have an elegant 
show during the whole season of growth, hyacinths and 
other fuie bulbous roots occupy a certain portion of the 
ueds, the intervals being filled with handsome herbaceous 
plants, permanently planted, or with flowering annuals and 
green-house plants renewed every season. 

To illustrate the mode of arranging the beds and disposing 
the plants in an English garden, we copy the plan and 
description of the elegant flower-garden, on the lawn at 
Tirnp77iore, the beds beinGj cut out of the smooth turf. 




" As a general principle for regulating the plants in this 
figure, the winter and spring flowers ought, as much as 
possible, to be of sorts which admit of being in the ground 
all the year : and the summer crop should be planted at 
intervals between the winter plants. Or the summer crop, 
having been brought forward in pots under glass, or by 
nightly protection, may be planted out about the middle of 
June, after the winter plants in pots are removed. A 
number of hardy bulbs ought to be potted and plunged in 
the beds in the months of October and November ; and 
when out of bloom, in May or June, removed to the reserve 



37 G 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



garden and plunged there, in order to perfect their foliage 
and mature their bulbs for the succeeding season."* 

There cannot be a question that this method of planting 
the flower-garden in groups and masses, is productive of 
by far the most splendid effect. In England, where flower- 
gardens are carried to their greatest perfection, the pre- 
ference in planting is given to exotics which blossom 
constantly throughout the season, and which are kept in 
the green-house during winter, and turned out in the 
beds in the early part of the season, where they flower in 
the greatest profusion until frost ; as Fuchsias, Salvias, 



Ox^^. 



O; 



;o,-^. 



^s!^d^'2::M£3^jj 



S) 




^Fii; 72. English Fiower-Giirden.J 



» Ency. of Gardening, 1000. 



EMBELLISHMENTS. 377 

Lobelias, Scarlet Geraniums, etc., etc.* This mode can 
be adopted here where a small green-house or frame is 
kept. In the absence of these, nearly the same effect may 
be produced by choosing the most showy herbaceous plants, 
perennial and biennial, alternating them with hardy bulbs, 
and the finer species of annuals. 

In Fig. 72, we give an example of a small cottage or 
villa residence of one or two acres, where the flower-beds 
are disposed around the lawn in the English style : their 
forms irregular, with curved outlines, affording a great 
degree of variety in the appearance as viewed from differ- 
ent points on the lawn itself. In this, the central portion 
is occupied by the lawn ; c, d, are the flower-beds, planted 
with showy border-flowers, in separate masses ; h, the 
conservatory. Surrounding the whole is a collection of 
choice shrubs and trees, the lowest near the walk, and those 
behind increasing in altitude as they approach the boundary 
wall or fence. In this plan, as there is supposed to be no 
exterior view worth preserving, the amphitheatre of shrubs 
and trees completely shuts out all objects but the lawn and 
its decorations, which are rendered as elegant as possible. 
Where the proprietor of a country residence, or the 
ladies of a family, have a particular taste, it may be indulged 
at pleasure in other and different varieties of the flower- 
garden. With some families there is a taste for botan}-, 

* In many English residences, the flower-garden is maintained in never- 
fading brilliancy by almost daily supplies from what is termed tlie reserve 
garden. This is a small garden out of sight, in which a great number of 
duplicates of the species in the flower-garden are grown in pots plunged in 
beds. As soon as a vacuum is made in the fluwer-garden by the fading of any 
flowers, the same are immediately removed and their places supplied by fresh 
plants just ready to bloom, from the pots in the reserve garden. This, which is 
the ultimatum of refinement in flower-gardening, has never, to our knowledge, 
been attempted ii this country. 



3'. 8 LANDSCAPE GAllDENING, 

when a small botanic flower-garden may be preferred — the 
herbaceous and other plants being grouped or massed "n 
beds after the Linncean, or the natural method. Some 
persons have an enthusiastic fondness for florist flowers, as 
Pansies, Carnations, Dahlias, Roses, etc. ; others for buibous 
roots, all of which may very properly lead to particular 
modes of laying out flower-gardens. 

The desideratum, however, with most persons is, to have 
a continued display of blossoms in the flower-garden from 
the opening of the crocus and snowdrop in the spring, 
until the autumnal frosts cut ofl" the last pale asters, or 
blacken the stems of the luxuriant dahlias in November. 
This may be done with a very small catalogue of plants if 
they are properly selected : such as flower at different 
seasons, continue long time in bloom, and present fine 
masses of flowers. On the other hand, a very large num- 
ber of species may be assembled together; and owing to 
their being merely botanical rarities, and not bearing fine 
flowers, or to their blossoming chiefly in a certain portion 
of the season, or continuing but a short period in bloom, 
the flower-garden will often have but an insignificant 
appearance. With a group of Pansies and spring bulbs, a 
bed of ever-blooming China Roses, including the Isle de 
Bourbon varieties, some few Eschscholtzias, the showy 
Petunias, Gilias, and other annuals, and a dozen choice 
double Dahlias, and some trailing Verbenas, a limited spot, 
of a few yards in diameter, may be made productive of 
more enjoyment, so far as regards a continued display of 
flowers, than ten times that space, planted, as we often see 
flower-gardens here, with a heterogeneous mixture of 
everything the possesor can lay his hands on, or crowd 
within the inclosure. 



EMBELI.ISIIMENTS. 379 

The minghd flower-garden, as it is termed, is by far the 
most common mode of arrangement in this country, though 
it is seldom well effected. The c/bject in this is to dispose 
the plants in the beds in such a manner, that while there 
is no predominance of bloom in any one portion of the beds 
there shall be a general admixture of colors and blossoms 
throughout the entire garden during the whole season of 
growth. 

To promote this, the more showy plants should be often 
repeated in different parts of the garden, or even the same 
parterre when large, the less beautiful sorts being suffered 
to occupy but moderate space. The smallest plants should 
be nearest the walk, those a little taller behind them, and 
the largest should be furthest from the eye, at the back of 
the border, when the latter is seen from one side only, oi 
in the centre, if the bed be viewed from both sides. A 
neglect of this simple rule will not only give the beds, when 
the plants are full grown, a confused look, but the beauty 
of the humbler and more delicate plants will be lost amid 
the tall thick branches of sturdier plants, or removed so 
far from the spectator in the walks, as to be overlooked. 

Considerable experience is necessary to arrange even a 
moderate number of plants in accordance with these rules. 
To perform it successfully, some knowledge of the habits 
of the plants is an important requisite ; their height, time 
of flowering, and the colors of their blossoms. When a 
gardener, or an amateur, is perfectly informed on these 
points, he can take a given number of plants of different 
species, make a plan of the bed or all the beds of a flower 
garden upon paper, and designate the particular situation 
of each species. 



350 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



The shrubbery is so generally situated m the neighbor- 
hood of the flower-garden and the house, that we shall 
here offer a few remarks on its arrangement and distri- 
bution. 

A collection of flowering shrubs is so ornamental, that 
to a greater or less extent it is to be found in almost every 
residence of the most moderate size : the manner in which 
the shrubs are disposed, must necessarily depend in a great 
degree upon the size of the grounds, the use or enjoyment 
to be derived from them, and the prevailing character of 
the scenery. 

It is evident, on a moment's reflection, that shrubs being 
intrinsically more ornamental than trees, on account of the 
beauty and abundance of their flowers, they will generally 
be placed near and about the house, in order that their gay 
blossoms and fine fragrance may be more constantly 
enjoyed, than if they were scattered indiscriminately over 
the grounds. 

Where a place is limited in size, and the whole lawn and 
plantations partake of the pleasure-ground character, 
shrubs of all descriptions may be grouped with good effect, 
in the same manner as trees, throughout the grounds ; the 
finer and rarer species being disposed about the dwelling, 
and the more hardy and common sorts along the walks, 
and in groups, in difterent situations near the eye. 

When, however, the residence is of larger size, and the 
grounds have a park-like extent and character, the intro- 
duction of shrubs might interfere with the noble and 
dignified expression of lofty full grown trees, except 
perhaps they were planted here and there, among large 



EMBELLISHMENTS 381 

groups, as underwood ; or if cattle or sheep were allowed 
to graze in the park, it would of course be impossible to 
preserve plantations of shrubs there. When this is the 
case, however, a. portion near the house is divided from the 
park (by a wire fence or some inconspicuous barrier) for 
the pleasure-ground, where the shrubs are disposed in belts, 
groups, etc., as in the first case alluded to. 

There are two methods of grouping shrubs upon lawns 
which may separately be considered, in combination with 
beautiful and with jncturesque scenery. 

In the first case, where the character of the scene, of 
the plantations of trees, etc., is that of polished beauty, the 
belts of shrubs may be arranged similar to herbaceous 
flowering plants, in arabesque beds, along the walks, as in 
Fig. 70, page 372. In this case, the shrubs alone, arranged 
with relation to their height, may occupy the beds ; or if 
preferred, shrubs and flowers may be intermingled. Those 
who have seen the shrubbery at Hyde Park, the residence 
of the late Dr. Hosack, which borders the walk leading 
from the mansion to the hot-houses, will be able to recall 
a fine example of this mode of mingling woody and 
herbaceous plants. The belts or borders occupied by the 
shrubbery and flower-garden there, are perhaps from 25 to 
35 feet in width, completely filled with a collection of 
shrubs and herbaceous plants ; the smallest of the latter 
being quite near the walk ; these succeeded by taller species 
receding from the front of the border, then follow shrubs 
of moderate size, advancing in height unti' the back- 
ground of the whole is a rich mass of tall shrubs and trees 
of moderate size. The effect of this belt on so large a 
scale, in high keeping, is remarkably striking and elegant. 

Where picturesque effect is the object aimed at in the 



382 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

pleasure-grounds, it may be attained in another way ; that 
is, by planting irregular groups of the most vigorous and 
thrifty growing shrubs in lawn, without placing them in 
regular dug beds or belts ; but instead of this, keeping the 
grass from growing and the soil somewhat loose, for a few 
inches round their stems (which will not be apparent at a 
short distance). In the case of many of the hardier shrubs, 
after they become well established, even this care will not 
be requisite, and the grass only will require to be kept short 
by clipping it when the lawn is mown. 

As in picturesque scenes everything depends upon 
grouping well, it will be found that shrubs may be employed 
with excellent effect in connecting single trees, or finishing 
a group composed of large trees, or giving fulness to groups 
of tall trees newly planted on a lawn, or effecting a union 
between buildings and ground. It is true that it requires 
something of an artist's feeling and perception of the pic- 
turesque to do these successfully, but the result is so much 
the more pleasing and satisfactory when it is well executed. 
When walks are continued from the house through dis- 
tant parts of the pleasure-grounds, groups of shrubs may be 
planted along their margins, here and there, with excellent 
effect. They do not shut out or obstruct the view like 
large trees, while they impart an interest to an otherwise 
tame and spiritless walk. Placed in the projecting bay, 
round which the walk curves so as to appear to be a reason 
for its taking that direction, they conceal also the portion 
of the walk in advance, and thus enhance the interest 
doubly. The neighborhood of rustic seats, or resting points, 
are also fit places for the assemblage of a group or groups 
of shrubs. 

For the use of those who require some guide in the 



EMliELLISHMENTis. 383 

selection of species, we subjoin the accompanying list of 
hardy and showy shrubs, which are at the same time easily 
procured in the United States. A great number of addi- 
tional species and varieties, and many more rare, might be 
enumerated, but such will be sufficiently famihar to the 
connoisseur already ; and what we have said respecting 
botanical rarities in flowering plants may be applied with 
equal force to shrubs, viz. that in order to produce a bril- 
hant effect, a few well chosen species, often repeated, are 
more effective than a great and ill-assorted melange. 

In the following list, the shrubs are divided into two 
classes — No. 1 designating those of medium size, or low 
p'ov:th, and No. 2, those which are of the largest size. 

Flowering m April. 

1. Daphne mezereum, the Pink Mezeream, D. M. album, the white 
Mezereum. 
Shepherdia argcntea, the Buffalo berry ; yellow. 
Xanthorhiza apiifolia, the parsley-leaved Yeljow-root ; browu. 
Cydonia japonica, the Japan Quince ; scarlet. 
Cydonia japonica alba, the Japan Quince ; wliite. 
Amelanchier Botryapium, the snowy Medlar. 
Rihes aureum, the Missouri Currant ; yellow. 
Coronilla Einerus, the Scorpion Senna ; j'ellow. 
Magnolia conspicua, the Chinese chandelier Magaoli.a ; white. 



May. 



2. Crategus oxycantlia, the scarlet Hawtliorn. 

9 Crategus oxycantlia, fl. plena, the double white Hawthorn. 

«. Chionanthus virginica, the white Fringe tree. 

1. Chionanthus latifolius, the broad-leaved Fringe tree ; white. 

I. Azalea, nrany fine varieties ; red, white, and yellow. 

1. Calycanthus Jlorida, the Swcet-scented-shrnb ; bro^vn. 

1. Magnolia purpurea, the Chinese purple Magnolia. 
y. Ilulesia ietraptera, the silver Bell tree ; white. 

2. Syringa vulgaris, the common white and red Lilacs. 
1. Syringe per sica, the Persian Lilac : white and purple. 



084 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING. 

1. Syringa pcrsica laciniata, the Persian cut-leaved Lilac ; purple. 
1. Kerria or Corchorus japonica, the Japan Globe flower ; yellow. 
1. Loniccra tartaricn, the Tartarian upright Honeysuckles ; red a.id 

wliite. 
1. PhiladelpUvs coronarius, the common Syringo, and the double 

Syringo ; white. 
1. Spirma hypericifolia, the St. Stephen's wreath ; white. 
1. Spiraa corymbosa, the cluster flowering Spiroa ; white. 
1. Bibes sanguineuvi, the scarlet flowering Currant. 
1. Amy g dolus pumila, pi., the double dwarf Almond ; pink. 

1. Caragana Chamlagu, the Siberian Pea tree ; yellow. 

2. 3Iagnolia soulangeana, the Soiilange Magnolia ; purple. 

1. PcBonia Moutan banksia, and rosea, the Chinese tree Paconia* 

purple. 
1. Benthamia frugifera, the red berjied Benthamia ; yellow. 



June. 



1. Amorpha fruticosa, the Indigo Shrub ; purple. 

2. Coluiea arbor esc ens, the yellow Bladder-senna. 
1. Coluiea cruenta, the red Bladder-senna. 

1. Cytisus capitatus, the cluster-flowered Cytisus ; yellow. 

1. Stuartia virginica, the white Stuartia. 

1. Cornus sanguinea, the bloody twig Dogwood ; white. 

1. Hydrangea quercifolia, the oak-leaved Hydrangea ; white. 

2. Fhiladelphus grandijlorus, the large flowering Syringo ; whiw. 
2. Viburnum Opulus, the Snow-ball ; white. 

2. Magnolia glauca, the swamp Magnolia ; white. 

1. Eobinia hispida, the Rose-acacia 

July. 

1. i^frcea 6cZZa, the beautiful Spirea; red. 

2. Sophora japonica, the Japan Sophora ; white. 

2. Sophora japonica pendula, the weeping Sophora ; white. 

2. Rhus Coiinus, the Venetian Fringe tree ; yellow. (Browu tufj.) 

1. Ligustrum vulgare, the common Privet ; white. 

2. Cytisus Laburnum, the Laburnum ; yellow. 

2. Cytisus I. quercifolia, the oaked-leaved Laburnum ; white. 

1. Cytisus purpureus, the purple Laburnnm. 

1. Cytisus argenteus, the silvery Cytisus ; yellow. 

L Cytisus nigricans, the hlnck rooted Cytisus ; yellow. 

2. Kolreuirria paniculata, t'le Japan Kolreuteria ; yellow. 



EMBELLISHMENTS. o85 

August and Seftembf.b, 

1. Clethra alnifolia, the alder-leaved Clethra ; white. 

1. Sy7iiphoria racemosa, the Snowberry ; (in fruit) white. 

2. Hibiscus syriacus, the doable purple, double white, double striped 

double blue, and variegated leaved Altheas. 

1. Spirtta tomentosa, the tomentose Spirea ; red. 

2. Magnolia glauha tJwmpsoniana, the late flowering Magnolia 

white. 

1. Baccharis halimifoUa, the Groundsel tree ; white tufts. 

2. Euonymus europaus, the European Strawberry tree (in fmit), red. 
2. Euonymus europccus alba, the European Strawberry tree ; the fruit 

v/hite. 
2. Euonymus latifolius, the broad-leaved Strawberry tree ; red. 
1. Daphne mezercum autumnalis, ihe autumnal Mezereum. 

Besides the above, there are a great number of charming 
varieties of hardy roses, some of which may be grown in 
the common way on their own roots, and others grafted on 
stocks, two, three, or four feet high, as standards or tree- 
roses. The effect of the latter, if such varieties as George 
the Fourth, La Cerisette, Pallagi, or any of the new hybrid 
roses are grown as standards, is wonderfully brilliant when 
they are in full bloom. Perhaps the situation where they 
are displayed to the greatest advantage is, in the centre of 
small round, oval, or square beds in the flower-garden 
where the remainder of the plants composing the bed are 
of dwarfish growth, so as not to hide the stem and head o 
the tree-roses. 

There are, unfortunately, but few evergreen shrubs tha' 
will endure the protracted cold of the winters of the north- 
ern states. The fine Hollies, Portugal Laurels, Laurusti 
nuses, etc., which are the glory of English gardens in 
autumn and winter, are not hardy enough to endure the 
depressed temperature of ten degrees below zero. South 

of Philadelphia, these beautiful exotic evergreens may be 

25 



386 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

acclimated with good success, and will add greatly to the 
interest of the shrubbery and grounds in winter. 

Besides the Balsam firs and the Spruce firs, the Arboi 
Vitae, and other evergreen trees which we have described 
in the previous pages of this volume, the following hardy 
species of evergreen shrubs may be introduced with 
advantage in the pleasure-ground groups, viz : — 

Bhododendron maximum, the American rose bay or big Laurel ; white 

and pink, several varieties (in shaded places). 
Kalmia latifolia, the common Laurel ; several colors. 
Junipcriis siiccia, the Swedish Juniper. 
Juniperus communis, the Irish Juniper. 
Buxus arhorescens, the common Tree-bo.x, the Gold striped Tree-box, 

and the Silver striped Tree-box. 
Ilex opaca, the American Holly. 
Crategus pyracantha, the Evergreen Thorn. 
Mahonia aquifolium, the Holly leaved Berberry. 

The Conservato7-y or the Green-House is an elegant and 
delightful appendage to the villa or mansion, when there is 
a taste for plants among the different members of a family. 
Those who have not enjoyed it, can hardly imagine the 
pleasure afforded by a well-chosen collection of exotic 
plants,, which, amid the genial warmth of an artificial 
climate, continue to put forth their lovely blossoms, and 
exhale their delicious perfumes, when all out-of-door nature 
is chill and desolate. The many hours of pleasant and 
healthy exercise and recreation afforded to the ladies of a 
family, v/here they take an interest themselves in the 
growth and vigor of the plants, are certainly no trifling 
considerations where the country residence is the place of 
habitation throughout the whole year. Often during the 
inclemency of our winter and spring months, there ai-e 
days when cither the excessive cold, or the disagreeable 



EMBELLISHMENTS, 387 

state of the weather, prevents in a great measure many 
persons, and especially females, from taking exercise in 
the open air. To such, the conservatory would be an 
almost endless source of enjoyment and amusement ; and 
if they are true amateurs, of active exertion also. The 
constant changes which daily growth and development 
bring about in vegetable forms, the interest we feel in the 
opening of a favorite cluster of buds, or the progress of the 
thrifty and luxuriant shoots of a rare plant, are such as 
serve mqst effectually to prevent an occupation of this 
nature from ever becoming monotonous or ennuyant. 

The difference between the green-house and conserva- 
tory is, that in the former, the plants are all kept i\\ pots 
and arranged on stages, both to meet the eye agreeably, 
and for more convenient growth ; while in the conservatory, 
the plants are grown in a hed or border of soil precisely as 
in the open air. 

When either of these plant habitations is to be attached 
to the house, the preference is greatly in favor of the 
conservatory. The plants being allowed more room, have 
richer and more luxuriant foliage, and grow and flower 
in a manner altogether superior to those in pots. The 
allusion to nature is also more complete in the case of 
plants growing in the ground ; and from the objects all 
being on the same level, and easily accessible, they are 
with more facility kept in that perfect nicety and order 
which an elegant plant-house should always exhibit. 

On the other hand, the green-house will contain by far 
the largest number of plants, and the same may be more 
easily changed or renewed at any time ; so that for a 
•^articular taste, as that of a botanical amateur, who wishes 
to grow a great number of species in a small space, the 



388 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

green-house will be found preferable. Whenever either 
the conservatory or green-house is of moderate size, and 
intended solely for private recreation, we would in every 
case, when such a thing is not impossible, have it attached 
to the house ; communicating by a glass door with the 
drawing-room, or one of the living rooms. Nothing can 
be more gratifying than a vista in winter through a glass 
door down the walk of a conservatory, bordered and 
overhung with the fine forms of tropical vegetation, 
ffolden oransjes slowing through the dark green foliajre. 
and gay corollas lighting up the branches of Camellias, 
and other floral favorites. Let us add the exulting song cf 
a few Canaries, and the enchantment is complete. How 
much more refined and elevated is the taste which prefers 
such accessories to a dwelling, rather than costly furniture, 
or an extravagant display of plate ! 

The best and most economical form for a conservatory 
is a parallelogram — the deviation from a square being 
greater or less according to circumstances. When it is 
joined to the dwelling by one of its sides (in the case of 
the parallelogram form), the roof need only slope in ono 
way, that is from the house. When one of the ends of the 
conservatory joins the dwelling, the roof should slope both 
ways from the centre. The advantage of the junction in 
the former case, is, that less outer surface of the conser- 
vatory being exposed to the cold, viz. only a side and two 
ends, less fuel will be required ; the advantage in the latter 
case is, that the main walk leading down the conserva- 
tory will be exactly in the line of the vista from the 
drawing-room of the dwelling. 

It is, we hope, almost unnecessary to state, that the root 
.">f a conservatory, or indeed any other house where plants 



EMBELLISHMENTS. 389 

are to be well-grown, must be glazed. Opake roofs 
prevent the admission of perpendicular light, without 
which the stems of vegetation are drawn up weak and 
feeble, and are attracted in an unsightly manner towards 
the glass in front. When the conservatory joins the house 
by one of its ends, and extends out from the building to a 
considerable length, the effect will be much more elegant ; 
and the plants will thrive more perfectly, when it is glazed 
on all of the three sides, so as to admit light in every 
direction. 

The best aspect for a conservatory is directly south ; 
southeast and southwest are scarcely inferior. Even east 
and west exposures will do very well, where there is plenty 
of glass to admit light ; for though our winters are cold, 
yet there is a great abundance of sun, and bright clear 
atmosphere, both far more beneficial to plants than the 
moist, foggy vapor of an English winter, which, though 
mild, is comparatively sunless. When the conservatory 
adjoins and looks into the flower-garden, the effect will be 
appropriate and pleasing. 

Some few hints respecting the construction of a con 
servatory may not be unacceptable to some of our readers 
In the first place, the roof should have a sufficient slope t( 
carry off" the rain rapidly, to prevent leakage ; from 40 to 
45 degrees is found- to be the best inclination in our 
climate. The roof should by no means be glazed with 
large panes, because small ones have much greater 
strength, which is requisite to withstand tne heavy 
weight of snow that often falls during winter, as well as 
to resist breakage by hail storms in summer. Four or 
eight inches by six, is the best size for roof-glass, and with 
this size the lap of the panes need not be greater than one- 



390 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

eighth of an inch, while it would require to be one- fourth 
of an inch, were the panes of the usual size. On the front 
and sides, the sashes may be handsome, and filled in with 
the best glass ; even plate glass has been used in many 
cases to our knowledge here. 

In the second place, some thorough provision must 
be made for warming the conservatory ; and it is by far the 
best mode to have the apparatus for this purpose entirely 
independent of the dwelling house ; that is (though the 
furnace may be in the basement), the flues and fire should 
be intended to heat the conservatory alone ; for although 
a conservatory may, if small, be heated by the same fire 
which heats the kitchen or one of the living rooms, it is a 
much less efficient mode of attaining this object, and 
renders the conservatory more or less liable at all times 
to be too hot or too cold. 

The common squai-e flue, the sides built of bricks, and 
the top and bottom of tiles manufactured for that purpose, 
is one of the oldest, most simple, and least expensive 
methods of heating in use. Latterly, its place has been 
supplied by hot water circulated in large tubes of three 
or four inches in diameter from an open boiler, and by 
Perkins's mode as it is called, which employs small pipes 
of an inch in diameter, hermetically sealed. Economy 
of fuel and in the time requisite in attendance, are the 
chief merits of the hot water systems, which, however, 
have the great additional advantage of affording a more 
moist and genial temperature. 

In a green-house, the flues, or hot water pipes, may be 
concealed under the stage. In conservatories they should 
by all means be placed out of sight also. To effect this, 
they are generally conducted into a narrow, hollow 




Fig. 73.-Tho Coiisctn itor> iii<l Tlow^r G ir Ici il Mont^'onnrv I'Uiu 



EMBELLISHMENTS. 



391 



chamber, under the walk, which has perforated sides or a 
grated top, to permit the escape of heated air.* 




[Fig. 74. Villa at Brooklyn, N. Y., with the Conservatory attached.] 

One of the most beautiful conservatories attached to 
the dwelling, to which we can refer our readers, for aa 
example, is one built by J. W. Perry, Esq., Brooklyn, near 
New York (Fig. 74), forming the left wing of this elegant 
villa. Among the most magnificent detached conserva- 
tories are those of J. P.^ Gushing, Esq., at his elegant seat, 
Belmont Place, Watertown, near Boston ; and that at 
Montgomery Place, the seat of Mrs. Edward Livingston, 
on the Hudson, Fig. 73. 

A conservatory is frequently made an addition to a 
rectangular Grecian villa, as one of its wings — the other 
being a living or bed-room. The more varied and 
irregular outline of Gothic buildings enables them to 
receive an appendage of this nature with more facility 
in almost any direction, whei'e the aspect is suitable. 

* The circulation of warm air is greatly accelerated when an opening 
through the outer air is permitted to enter the hot air passage, thus becoming 
heated and passinn; into the conseiTatory. 



392 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING. 

Whatever be the style of the architecture of the house^ 
that of the conservatory should in every case conform 
to it, and evince a degree of enrichment according with 
that of the main building. 

Though a conservatory is often made an expensive 
luxury, attached only to tne better class of residences, there 
is no reason why cottages of more humble character 
should not have the same source of enjoyment on a more 
moderate scale. A small green-house, or plant cabinet, as 
it is sometimes called, eight or ten feet square, communi- 
cating with the parlor, and constructed in a simple style, 
may be erected and kept up in such a manner, as to be a 
source of much pleasure, for a comparatively trifling sum ; 
and we hope soon to see in this country, where the com- 
forts of life are more equally distributed than in any other, 
the taste for enjoyments of this kind extending itself with 
the means for realizing them, into every portion of the 
northern and middle States. 

Open and covered seats, of various descriptions, are 
among the most convenient and useful decorations for the 
pleasure-grounds of a country residence. Situated in por- 
tions of the lawn or park, somewhat distant from the 
house, they offer an agreeable place for rest or repose. If 
there are certain points from which are obtained agreeable 
prospects or extensive views of the surrounding country, a 
seat, by designating those points, and by affording us a 
convenient mode of enjoying them, has a double recom- 
mendation to our minds. 

Open and covered seats are of two distinct kinds ; one 
architectwal, or formed after artist-like designs, of stone 
or wood, in Grecian, Gothic, or other forms ; which rnay, 
if they are intended to produce an elegant effect, have 



EMBELLISHMENTS. 393 

vases oil pedestals as accompaniments ; the other, rustic, 
as they are called, which are formed out of trunks ana 
branches of trees, roots, etc., in their natural forms. 

There are particular sites where each of these kinds of 
seats, or structures, is, in good taste, alone admissible. In 
the proximity of elegant and decorated buildings where all 
around has a polished air, it would evidently be doing 
violence to our feelings and sense of propriety to admit 
many rustic seats and structures of any kind ; but archi- 
tectural decorations and architectural seats are there 
correctly introduced. For the same reason, also, as we 
have already suggested, that the sculptured "forms of vases, 
etc., would be out of keeping in scenes where nature is 
predominant (as the distant wooded parts or walks of a 
residence), architectural, or, in other words, highly arti- 
ficial seats, would not be in character : but rustic seats 
and structures, which, from the nature of the materials 
employed and the simple manner of their construction, 
appear but one remove from natural forms, are felt at once 
to be in unison with the surrounding objects. Again, the 
mural and highly artistical vase and statue, most properly 
accompany the beautiful landscape garden ; while rustic 
baskets, or vases, are the most fitting decorations of the 
Picturesque Landscape Garden. 

The simplest variety of covered architectural seat is the 
latticed arbor for vines of various descriptions, with the 
seat underneath the canopy of foliage ; this may with 
more propriety be introduced in various parts of the 
grounds than any other of its class, as the luxuriance and 
natural gracefulness of the foliage which covers the arbor, 
in a great measure destroys or overpowers the expression 
of its original form. Lattice arbors, however, neatly 




39^ LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

formed of rough poles and posts, are much more pictu- 
resque and suitable for wilder portions of the scenery. 

The temple and the pavilion are highly 

finished forms of covered seats, which are 

occasionally introduced in splendid places, 

[Fig. T5.1 where classic architecture prevails. There is 

a circular pavilion of this kind at the termination of one 

of the walks at Mr. Langdon's residence, Hyde Park. 

Fig. Y5. 

We consider rustic seats and structures as likely to be 
much preferred in the villa and cottage residences of the 
country. They have the merit of being tasteful and pic- 
turesque in their appearance, and are easily constructed 
by the amateur, at comparatively little or no expense. 
There is scarcely a prettier or more 
L_ pleasant object for the termination of a 
[Fig. 76.] loiig walk in the pleasure-grounds or park, 

than a neatly thatched structure of I'ustic work, with its 
seat for repose, and a view of the landscape beyond. On 
finding such an object, we are never tempted to think that 
there has been a lavish expenditure to serve a trifling 
purpose, but are gratified to see the exercise of taste and 
ingenuity, which completely answers the end in view. 

Figure 76 is an example of a simple rustic 

ij^ seat formed of the crooked and curved branches 

of the oak, elm, or any other of our forest trees 

'=■ ' -^ Fig. 77 is a seat of the same character, made 

at the foot of a tree, whose overhanging branches aflford a 

fine shade. 

Figure 78 is a covered seat or rustic arbor, with a 
thatched roof of straw. Twelve posts are set securely in 
the ground, which make the frame of this structure, the 





EMBELLISHMENTS. 







openings between being filled in with branches (aboui 
three inches in diameter) of different trees — the more 
irregular the better, so that the perpendicular surface of 
the exterior and interior is kept nearly equal. In lieu of 
thatch, the roof may be first tightly boarded, and then a 
covering of bark or the slabs of trees with the bark on, 
overlaid and nailed on. The figure represents the struc- 
ture as formed round a tree. For the sake of variety this 
might be omitted, the roof formed of an open lattice work 
of branches like the sides, and the whole covered by a 
grape, bignonia, or some other vine or creeper of luxuriant 
gi'owth. The seats are in the interior. 

Figure 79 represents a covered seat of another kind. 
The central structure, which is circular, is 
intended for a collection of minerals, shells, 
or any other curious objects for which an 
amateur might have a penchant. Geo- 
[Fig. 79.] logical or mineralogical specimens of the 

adjacent neighborhood, would be very proper for such a 
cabinet. The seat surrounds it on the outside, over which 
is a thatched roof or veranda, supported on rustic pillars 
formed of the trunks of saplings, with the bark attached. 




•::!ir. 



l<ANOSCAPE GARDENING. 



Many of the English country places abound with 
admirable specimens of rustic work in their parks and 
pleasure-grounds. White Knight's, in particular, a resi- 
dence of the Duke of Marlborough, has a number of 
beautiful structures of this kind. Figure 80 is a view of a 




[Fig. 80. Rustic Covered Seat.] 



round seat with thatched roof, in that demesne. Three oi 
four rustic pillars support the architrave, and the whole of 
the exterior and interior (being first formed of frame- 
work) is covered with straight branches of the maple and 
larch. The seat on the interior looks upon a fine prospect ; 
and the seat on the back of the exterior fronts the park. 

There is no limit to the variety of forms and patterns in 
which these rustic seats, arbors, summer-houses, etc., can 
be constructed by an artist of some fancy and ingenuity. 
After the frame- work of the structure is formed of posts 
and rough boards, if small straight rods about an inch in 
diameter, of hazel, white birch, maple, etc., are selected in 
sufficient quantity, they may be nailed on in squares, 
diamonds, medallions, ^r other patterns, and have the effect 
of a mosaic of wood. 

Among the curious results of this fancy for rustic work, 
we may mention the moss-house — erected in several places 



EMBELLISHMENTS, 397 

abroad. The skeleton or frame-work of the arbor or housp 
is formed as we have just stated ; over this small rods hall 
an inch in diameter are nailed, about an inch from centre 
to centre ; after the whole surface is covered with this sort 
of rustic lathing, a quantity of the softer wood-moss of 
different colors is collected ; and taking small parcels in 
the hand at a time, the tops being evenly arranged, the 
bottoms or roots are crowded closely between the rods with 
a small wooden wedge. When this is done with some 
little skill, the tufted ends spread out and cover the rods 
entirely, showing a smooth surface of mosses of different 
colors, which has an effect not unlike that of a thick 
Brussels carpet. 

The mosses retain their color for a great length of time, 
and when properly rammed in with the wedge, they cannot 
be pulled out again without breaking their tops. The 
prettiest example which we have seen of a handsome 
moss-house in this country, is at the residence of Wm. H. 
Aspinv/all, Esq., on Staten Island. 

A pi^ospect tower is a most desirable and pleasant 
structure in certain residences. Where the view is com- 
paratively limited from the grounds, on account of their 
surface being level, or nearly so, it often happens that the 
spectator, by being raised some twenty-five or thirty feet 
above the surface, finds himself in a totally different 
position, whence a charming coup d'asil or bird's-eye view 
of the surrounding country is obtained. 

Those of our readers who may have visited the de- 
lightful garden and grounds of M. Parmentier, near 
Brooklyn, some naif a dozen years since, during the life- 
time of that amiable and zealous amateur of horticulturCj 
•will readily remember the rustic prospect-arbor, or tower 



398 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 





Fig. 81, which was situated at the extre- 
mity of his place. It was one of the 
first pieces of rustic work of any size 
and displaying any ingenuity, that wj 
TFig SI.] remember to have seen here ; and fron 

its summit, though the garden walks afforded no prospect 
a beautiful reach of the neighborhood for many miles was 
enjoyed. 

Figure 82 is a design for a rustic prospect tower of three 
stories in height, with a double thatched 
roof It is formed of rustic pillars or columns, 
which are well fixed in the ground, and which 
are filled in with a fanciful lattice of rustic 
branches. A spiral staircase winds round 
[Fig. S2.] the interior of the platform of the second 
and upper stories, where there are seats under the open 
thatched roof. 

On a ferine ornee, where the proprietor desires to give a 
picturesque appearance to the different appendages of the 
place, rustic work otiers an easy and convenient method 
of attaining this end. The dairy is sometimes made a 
detached building, and in this country it may be built of 
logs in a tasteful manner with a thatched roof; the interioi 
being studded, lathed, and plastered in the usual way. Or 
the ice-house, which generally shows but a rough gable and 
ridge roof rising out of the ground, might be covered with 
a neat structure in rustic work, overgrown with vines, 
which would give it a pleasing or picturesque air, instead 
of leaving it, as at present, an unsightly object which we 
are anxious to conceal. 

A species of useful decoration, which is perhaps more 
naturall}! suggested than any other, is the bridge. Where 



EMBELLISHMENTS. 399 

a constant stream, of greater or less size, runs through the 
grounds, and divides the banks on opposite sides, a bridge 
of some description, if it is only a narrow plank over a 
rivulet, is highly necessary. In pieces of artificial water 
that are irregular in outline, a narrow strait is often pur- 
posely made, with the view of introducing a bridge for 
eflect. 

When the stream is large and bold, a handsome archi- 
tectural bridge of stone or timber is by far the most suitable ; 
especially if the stream is near the house, or if ii is crossed 
on the Approach road to the mansion ; because a character 
of permanence and solidity is requisite in such cases. But 
when it is only a winding rivulet or crystal brook, which 
meanders along beneath the shadow of tufts of clustering 
foliage of the pleasure-ground or park, a rustic bridge may 

E\ 0^1' ^® brought in with the happiest effect. 

•'■•-wi'(/j Ficr. 83 is a rustic brido-e erected under 




our direction. The foundation is made 
'•J by laying down a few large square 

stones beneath the surface on both sides of the stream to 
be spanned ; upon these are stretched two round posts or 
sleepers with the bark on, about eight or ten inches in 
diameter. The rustic hand-rail is framed into these two 
sleepers. The floor of the bridge is made by laying down 
small posts of equal size, about four or six inches in diame- 
ter, crosswise upon the sleepers, and nailing them down 
securely. The bark is allowed to remain on in every 
piece of wood employed in the construction cf this little 
bridge ; and when the wood is cut at the proper season 
(durable kinds being chosen), such a bridge, well made 
will remain in excellent order for many years. 

RocJiwork is another kind of decoration sometimes intro- 



400 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



duced in particular portions of the scenery of a residence 
Fig. 84. When well executed, that is, so as to have a 
natural and harmonious expression, the effect is highly 
pleashig. We have seen, however, in places where a higb 



M 






, . , :^"' - - -J 







[Fig. 84. Rnckwdrk.J 



keeping and good taste otherwise prevailed, such a barba- 
rous melange, or confused pile of stones mingled with soil, 
and planted over with dwarfish plants dignified with the 
name of rockwork, that we have been led to believe that it h 
much better to attempt nothing of the kind, unless there i* 
a suitable place for its display, and at the same time, the 
person attempting it is sufficiently an artist, imbued with 
the spirit of nature in her various compositions and com- 
binations, to be able to produce something higher than a 
caricature of her works. 

The object of rockwork is to produce in scenery or por- 
tions of a scene, naturally in a great measure destitute 
of groups of rocks and their accompanying drapery of 
plants and foliage, something of the picturesque effect which 
such natural assemblages confer. To succeed in this, it is 
evident that we must not heap up little hillocks of mould 



EMBELLISHMENTS. 401 

and smooth stones, in the midst of an open lawn, or the 
centre of a flower-garden. But if we can make choice of 
a situation where a rocky bank or knoll already partially 
3xists, or would be in keeping with the form of the ground 
and the character of the scene, then we may introduce 
such accompaniments with the best possible hope of 
success. 

It often happens in a place of considerable extent, that 
somewhere in conducting the walks through the grounds, 
we meet with a ridge with a small rocky face, or perhaps 
with a large rugged single rock, or a bank v/here rocky 
summits just protrude themselves through the surface. The 
common feeling against such uncouth objects, would direct 
them to be cleared away at once out of sight. But let us 
take the case of the large rugged rock, and commence our 
picturesque operations upon it. We will begin by collect- 
ing from some rocky hill or valley in the neighborhood oi 
the estate, a sufficient quantity of rugged rocks, in size 
from a few pounds to half a ton or more, if necessary, pre- 
ferring always such as are already coated with mosses and 
lichens. These we will assemble around the base of a large 
rock, in an irregular somewhat pyramidal group, bedding 
them sometimes partially, sometimes almost entirely in soil 
heaped in irregular piles around the rock. The rocks 
must be arranged in a natural manner, avoiding all regu- 
larity and appearance of formal art, but placing them 
sometimes in groups of half a dozen together, overhanging 
each other, and sometimes half bedded in the soil, and a 
little distance apart. There are no rules to be given foj 
such operations, but the study of natural groups, of a 
character similar to that which we wish to produce, will 

afford sufficient hints if the artist is 

26 



402 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

" Prodigiie de genie," 

and has a perception of the natural beauty which he 
desires to imitate. 

The rockwork once formed, choice traihng, creeping, and 
alpine plants, such as delight naturally in similar situations, 
may be planted in the soil which fills the interstices between 
the rocks : when these grow to fill their proper places, 
partly concealing and adorning the rocks with their neat 
green foliage and pretty blossoms, the effect of the whole, 
if properly done, will be like some exquisite portion of a 
rocky bank in wild scenery, and will be found to give an 
air at once striking and picturesque to the little scene 
where it is situated. 

In small places where the grounds are extremely limited, 
and the owner wishes to form a rockwork for the growth 
of alpine and other similar plants, if there are no natural 
indications of a rocky surface, a rockwork may sometimes 
be introduced without violating good taste by preparing 
natural indications artificially, if we may use such a term. 
If a few of the rocks to be employed in the rockwork are 
sunk half or three-fourths their depth in the soil near the 
site of the proposed rockwork, so as to have ths ap- 
pearance of a rocky ridge just cropping out, as the 
geologists say, then the rockwork will, to the eye of a 
spectator, seem to be connected with, and growing out of 
this rocky spur or ridge below : or, in other words, there 
will be an obvious reason for its being situated there, 
instead of its presenting a wholly artificial appearance. 

In a previous page, when treating of the banks of pieces 
of water formed by art, we endeavored to show how the 
natural appearance of such banks would be improved by 
the iudicious introduction of rocks partially imbedded into 



EMBELLISHMENTS. 40J 



and holding them up. Such situations, in the case of a 
small lake or pond, or a brook, are admirable sites for rock- 
work. Where the materials of a suitable kind are 
abundant, and tasteful ingenuity is not wanting, surprising 
effects may be produced in a small space. Caves and 
grottoes, where ferns and mosses would thrive admirably 
with the gentle drip from the roof, might be made of the 
overarching rocks arranged so as to appear like small 
natural caverns. Let the exterior be partially planted with 
low shrubs and climbing plants, as the wild Clematis, and 
the effect of such bits of landscape could not but be 
agreeable in secluded portions of the grounds. 

In many parts of the country, the secondary blue 
limestone abounds, which, in the small masses found loose 
in the woods, covered with mosses and ferns, affords the 
very finest material for artificial rockwork.* 

After all, much the safest way is never to introduce 
rockwork of any description, unless we feel certain that it 
will have a good efTect. When a place is naturally 
picturesque, and abounds here and there with rocky banks, 
etc., little should be done but to heighten and aid the 
expressions of these, if they are wanting in spirit, by 
adding something more ; or softening and giving elegance 
to the expression, if too wild, by planting the same with 



* Our readers may see an engraving and description of a superb extravaganza 
in rockwork in a late number of Loudon's Gardenei-'s Magazine. Lady 
Broughton, of Hoole House, Chester, England, has succeeded in forming, 
round a natural valley, an imitation of the hills, glaciers, and scenery of a 
passage in Switzerland. The whole is done in rockwork, the snow-covered 
summits being represented in white spar. The approprijite plants, trees, and 
shrubs on a small scale, are introduced, and the illusion, to a spectator standing 
III the valley surrounded by these glaciers, is said to be wonderfully striJdag 
and complete. 



404 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



beautiful shrubs and climbers. On a tame sandy level, 
where rocks of any kind are unknown, their introduction 
in rockworks, nine times in ten, is more likely to give rise 
to emotions of the ridiculous, than those of the sublime or 
picturesque. 

Fountains are highly elegant garden decorations, rarely 
seen in this country ; which is owing, not so much, we 
apprehend, to any great cost incurred in putting them up, 
or any want of appreciation of their sparkling and 
enlivening effect in garden scenery, as to the fact that there 
are few artisans here, as abroad, whose business it is to 
construct and fit up architectural, and other jets d'eau. 

The first requisite, where a fountain is a desideratum, is 
a constant supply of water, either from a natural source 
or an artificial reservoir, some distance higher than the 
level of the surface whence the jet or fountain is to rise. 




[Fig. 85. Design fur a Fountain.] 



NVhere there is a pond, or other body of water, on a higher 
level than the proposed fountain, it is only necessary to lay 
pipes under the surface to conduct the supply of water to 



EMBELLISHMENXg. 405 

the required spot ; but where there is no such head of water; 
the latter must be provided from a reservoir artificiallv 
prepared, and kept constantly full. 

There are two very simple and cheap modes of effectinor 
this, which we shall lay before our readers, and one or the 
other of which may be adopted in almost every localit3\ 
The first is to provide a large flat cistern of sufficient size 
which is to be placed under the roof in the upper story ol 
one of the outbuildings, the carriage-house for example, 
and receive its supplies from the water collected on the 
roof of the building ; the amount of water collected in this 
way from a roof of moderate size being much more than 
is generally supposed. The second is to sink a well of 
capacious size (where such is not already at command) 
in some part of the grounds where it will not be con- 
spicuous, and over it to erect a small tower, the top of 
which shall contain a cistern and a small horizontal wind- 
mill ; which being kept in motion by the wind more or less 
almost every day in summer, will raise a sufficient quantity 
of water to keep the reservoir supplied from the well 
below. In either of these cases, it is only necessary to 
carry leaden pipes from the cistern (under the surface, 
below the reach of frost) to the place where the jet is to 
issue; the supply in both these cases will, if properly 
arranged, be more than enough for the consumption of the 
fountain during the hours when it will be necessary for it 
to play, viz. from sunrise to evening. 

The steam-engine is often employed to force up water 

for the supply of fountains in many of the large public and 

royal gardens ; but there are few cases in this country 

where private expenditures of this kind would be justifiable. 

But where a small stream, or even the overflow of a 



40G LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

perpetual spring, can be commanded, the Hydraulic Ram 
is the most perfect as well as the simplest and cheapest 
of all modes of raising water. A supply pipe of an inch 
in diameter is in many cases sufficient to work the Ram 
and force water to a great distance ; and where sufficien 
to fill a "driving pipe" of two inches diameter can be 
commanded, a large reservoir may be kept constantly 
filled. As the Hydraulic Ram is now for sale in all our 
cities we need not explain its action. 

" In conducting the water from the cistern or reservoir 
to the jet or fountain, the following particulars require to 
be attended to : In the first place, all the pipes must be 
laid sufficiently deep in the earth, or otherwise placed and 
protected so as to prevent the possibility of their being 
reached by frost ; next, as a general rule, the diameter of 
the orifice from which the jet of water proceeds, tech- 
nically called the bore of the quill, ought to be four times 
less than the bore of the conduit pipe ; that is, the quill 
and the pipe ought to be in a quadruple proportion to 
each other. There are several sorts of quills or spouts, 
which throw the water up or down, into a variety of 
forms : such as fans, parasols, sheaves, showers, mushrooms, 
inverted bells, etc. The larger the conduit pipes are, the 
more freely will the jets display their diff*erent forms ; and 
the fewer the holes in the quill or jet (for sometimes this is 
pierced like the rose of a watering pot) the greater 
certainty there will be of the form continuing the same; 
because the risk of any of the holes choking up will be 
less. The diameter of a conduit pipe ought in no case 
to be less than one inch ; but for jets of very large size, 
the diameter ought to be two inches. Where the conduit 
pipes are of great length, say upwards of 1000 feet, it is 



EMBELLISHMENTS. 407 

found advantageous to begin, at the reservoir or cistern 
with pipes of a diameter somewhat greater than those 
which deliver the water to the quills, because the water, in 
a pipe of uniform diameter of so great a length, is found 
to lose much of its strength, and become what is tech 
nically called sleepy : while the different sizes quicken it, 
and redouble its force. For example, in a conduit pipe of 
1800 feet in length, the first six hundred feet may belaid 
with pipes of eight inches in diameter, the next 600 feet 
with pipes of six inches in diameter, and the last 600 feet 
with pipes of four inches in diameter. In conduits not 
exceeding 900 feet, the same diameter may be continued 
throughout. When several jets are to play in several 
fountains, or in the same, it is not necessary to lay a fresh 
pipe from each jet to th3 reservoir ; a main of sufficient 
size, with branch pipes to each jet, being all that is required. 
Where the conduit pipe enters the reservoir or cistern, it 
ought to be of increased diameter, and the grating placed 
over it to keep out leaves and other matters which might 
choke it up, ought to be semi-globular or conical ; so that 
the area of the number of holes in it may exceed the 
area of the orifice of the conduit pipe. The object is to 
prevent any diminution of pressure from the body of 
water in the cistern, and to facilitate the flow of the 
water. Where the conduit pipe joins the fountain, there, 
of course, ought to be a cock for turning the water off and 
on ; and particular care must be taken that as much water 
may pass through the oval hole of this cock as passes 
through the circular hole of the pipe. In conduit pipes, all 
elbows, bendings, and right angles should be avoided as 
much as possible, since the}" diminish the force of the 
water. In very long conduit pipes, air-holes formed by 



408 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



soldering on upright pieces of pipe, terminating in inverted 
valves or suckers, should be made at convenient distances, 
and protected by shafts built of stone or brick, and covered 
with movable gratings, in order to let out the air. Where 
pipes ascend and descend on very irregular surfaces, 
the strain on the lowest parts of the pipe is always the 
greatest ; unless care is taken to relieve this by the 
judicious disposition of cocks and air-holes. Without this 
precaution, pipes conducted over irregular surfaces will 
not last nearly so long as those conducted over a level." — 
Encycl. of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture, 
page 989. 

Where the reservoir is but a short distance, as from a 
dozen to fifty yards, all that is necessary is to lay the con- 
duit pipes on a regular uniform slope, to secure a steady 
uninterruptQd flow of water. Owing to the friction in the 
pipes, and pressure of the atmosphere, the water in the 
fountain will of course, in no case, rise quite as high as the 
level of the water in the reservoir ; but it will neai'ly as 
high. For example, if the reservoir is ten feet four inches 
high, the water in the jet will only rise ten feet, and in like 
proportion for the different heights. The following table* 



Height of the 
Reservoir. 


Diameter of tlie 
Conduit pipes. 


Diameters of the 
Orifices. 


Height the water 
will rise to. 


Feet. 1 


Inches. 


Inches. 1 Lines. 


Lines. | Parts. 


Feet. 1 Inches. 


5 


1 


22 


4 


5 


10 


4 


25 


5 


10 


15 


9 


2i 


6 


15 


21 


4 


2i 


61 


20 


33 





3 


7 


30 


45 


4 


^ 


7 8 


40 


58 


4 


5 


H • 10 


50 


72 


{» 


H 


10 12 


61) 


86 


4 


G 


12 14 


70 


100 





7 


11 15 


80 



* Switzer's Introduction to a General System of Hydrostatics. 




EMBELLISHMENTS. 409 

shows With a given height of reservoirs and diameter of 
conduit pipes and orifices, the height to which the water 
will rise in the fountain. 

A simple jet (Fig. 80) issuing from a circular basin of 
water, or a cluster of perpendicular jets (candelabra jets), 
is at once the simplest and most pleasing of 
fountains. Such are almost the only kinds 
i^\«^ of fountains which can be introduced with 
rp'^f^f^ propriety in simple scenes where the pre- 
dominant objects are sylvan, not architectural. 

Weeping, or Tazza Fountains, as they are called, are 

simple and highly pleasing objects, which require only a 

^j. ^^^-.^^.^-MY^i'.^N.^^^^ ^^ very moderate supply of water com- 

''ij';.^^^^^^^^^i^i'i|i';i] pared with that demanded by a 

';|V ;|/jjji;ij|r^^l), !; ''\ [iKjili constant and powerful jet. The 

'i ;i't|'':'l|^^^^'! ;i !^i!|'i conduit pipe rises through and fills 

[Fig. 8-~Tl^FouiUiiin.] the vasc, which is so formed as to 

overflow round its entire margin. Figure 87 represents a 

beautiful Grecian vase for tazza fountains. The ordinary 

jet and the tazza fountain may be combined in one, when 

the supply of water is sufficient, by carrying the conduit 

pipe to the level of the top of the vase, from which the 

water rises perpendicularly, then falls back into the vase 

and overflows as before. 

We might enumerate and figure a great many other 
designs for fountains ; but the connoisseur will receive 
more ample information on this head than we are able to 
afford, from the numerous French works devoted to this 
branch of Rural Embellishment. 

A species of rustic fountain which has a good eflfect, is 
made by introducing the conduit pipe or pipes among the 
groups of rockioork alluded to, from whence (the orifice of 



410 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

the pipe being concealed or disguised) the water issues 
among the rocks either in the form of a cascade, a weep- 
ing fountain, or a perpendicular jet. A little basin of 
water is formed at the foot or in the midst of the rockwork; 
and the cool moist atmosphere afforded by the trickling 
streams, would offer a most congenial site for aquatic 
plants, ferns, and mosses. 

Fountains of a highly artificial character are happily 
situated only when they are placed in the neighborhood of 
buildings and architectural forms. When only a single 
fountain can be maintained in a residence, the centre of 
the flower-garden, or the neighborhood of the piazza or 
terrace-walk, is, we think, much the most appropriate 
situation for it. There the liquid element, dancing and 
sparkling in the sunshine, is an agreeable feature in the 
scene, as viewed from the windows of the rooms ; and the 
falling watery spray diffusing coolness around is no less 
delightful in the surrounding stillness of a summer evening. 

After all that we have said respecting architectural and 
rustic decorations of the grounds, we must admit that it 
requires a great deal of good taste and judgment, to 
introduce and distribute them so as to be in good keeping 
with the scenery of country residences. A country resi- 
dence, where the house with a few tasteful groups of 
flowers and shrubs, and a pretty lawn, with clusters and 
groups of luxuriant trees, are all in high keeping and 
evincing high order, is far more beautiful and pleasing 
than the same place, or even one of much larger extent, 
where a profusion of statues, vases, and fountains, or 
rockwork and rustic seats, are distributed throughout the 
garden and grounds, while the latter, in themselves, show 



EMBELLISHMENTS. 411 

slovenly keeping, and a crude and meaf^re knowledge of 
design in Landscape Gardening. 

Unity of expression is the maxim and guide in this 
department of the art, as in every other. Decorations can 
never be introduced with good effect, when they are at 
variance with the character of surrounding objects. A 
beautiful and highly architectural villa may, with the 
greatest propriety, receive the decorative accompaniments 
of elegant vases, sundials, or statues, should the proprietor 
choose to display his wealth and taste in this manner ; but 
these decorations would be totally misapplied in the case 
of a plain square edifice, evincing no architectural style in 
itself. 

In addition to this, there is great danger that a mere 
lover of fine vases may run into the error of assembling 
these objects indiscriminately in different parts of his 
grounds, where they have really no place, but interfere 
with the quiet character of surrounding nature. He may 
overload the grounds with an unmeaning distribution of 
sculpturesque or artificial forms, instead of working up 
those parts where art predominates in such a manner, by 
means of appropriate decorations, as to heighten by con- 
trast the beauty of the whole adjacent landscape. 

With regard to pavilions, summer-houses, rustic seats, 
and garden edifices of like character, they should, if 
possible, in all cases be introduced where they aro 
manifestly appropriate or in harmony with the scene. 
Thus a grotto should not be formed in the side of an 
open bank, but in a deep shadowy recess ; a classic 
temple or pavilion may crown a beautiful and prominent 
knoll, and a rustic covered seat may occupy a secluded. 



412 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

quiet portion of the grounds, where undisturbed meditation 
may be enjoyed. As our favorite Delille says : 

" Sachez ce qui convicnt ou nuit au caractere. 
Un reduit ecarte, dans uii lieu solitaire, 
Peint mieux la solitude encore et I'abandon. 
Montrez-vous done fidele a chaque expression ; 
N'allez pas au grand jour offirir un ermitage : 
Ne cachez point un temple au fond d'un bois sauvage." 

Les Jakdins. 

Or if certain objects are unav^oidably placed in situations 
of inimical expression, the artist should labor to alter the 
character of the locality. How much this can be done by 
the proper choice of trees and shrubs, and the proper 
arrangement of plantations, those who have seen the 
difference in aspect of certain favorite localities of wild 
nature, as covered with wood, or as denuded by the axe, 
can well judge. And we hope the amateur, who has 
made himself familiar with the habits and peculiar 
expressions of different trees, as pointed out in this work, 
will not find himself at a loss to effect such changes, hy 
the aid of time, with ease and facility. 



4PPENDIX. 



I. 

Nttes on iransplanling trees. Reasons for frequent failures in removing large trees 
Directions for performing tliis operation. Selection of subjects. Prep\ring trees for 
removal Transplanting evergreens. 

There is no subject on which the professional horticulturist is more 
frequently consulted in America, than transplanting trees. And, as it 
is an essential branch of Landscape Gardening — indeed, perhaps, the 
most important and necessary one to be practically understood in the 
improvement or embellishment of new country residences — we shall 
offer a few remarks here, with the hope of rendering it a more easy 
and successful practice in the hands of amateurs. 

The first and most important consideration in transplanting should 
be the preservation of the roots. By this we do not mean a certain bulk 
of the larger and more important ones only, but as far as possible all 
the numerous small fibres and rootlets so indispensably necessary in 
assisting the tree to recover from the shock of removal. The coarser" 
and larger roots serve to secure the tree in its position, and convey the 
fluids; but it is by means of the small ribrous roots, or the delicate and 
numerous points of these fibres called spmigioles, that the food of 
plants is imbibed, and the destruction of such is manifestly in the 
highest degree fatal to the success of the transplanted tree. To avoid 
this as far as practicable, we should, in removing a tree, commence al 
such a distance as to include a circumference large enough to comprise 
the great majority of the roots. At that distance from the trunk we 
shall find most of the smaller roots, which should be carefully loosened 

413 



414 APPENDIX. 

from the soil, with as little injury as possible ; the earth should be 
gently and gradually removed from the larger roots, as we proceed 
onward from the extremity of the circle to the centre, and when we 
reach the nucleus of roots surrounding the trunk, and fairly undermine 
(he whole, we shall find ourselves in possession of a tree in such a per- 
fect condition, that even when of considerable size, we may confident- 
ly hope for a speedy recovery of its former luxuriance after being 
replanted. 

Now to remove a tree in tJiis manner, requires not only a considera- 
ole degree of experience, which is only to be acquired by practice, but 
also much patience and perseverance while engaged in the work. It is 
not a difficult task to remove, in a careless manner, four or five trees in 
a day, of fifteen feet in height, by the assistance of three or four men, 
and proper implements of removal, while one or two trees only can be 
removed if the roots and branches are preserved entire or nearly so. 
Yet in the latter case, if the work be well performed, we shall have the 
satisfaction of beholding the subjects, when removed, soon taking fresh 
root, and becoming vigorous healthy trees, with fine luxuriant heads, 
while three-fourths of the former will most probably perish, and the 
remainder struggle for several years, under the loss of so large a por- 
tion of their roots and branches, before they entirely recover, and put 
on the appearance of handsome trees. 

When a tree is carelessly transplanted, and the roots much mutilated, 
the operator feels obliged to reduce the top accordingly; as experience 
teaches him, that although the leaves may expand, yet they will soon 
perish without a fresh supply of food from the roots. But when the 
largest portion of the roots are carefully taken up with the tree, 
pruning should be less resorted to, and thus the original symmetry and 
beauty of the head retained. Wlien this is the case, the leaves contri- 
bute as much, by their peculiar action in elaborating the sap, towards 
re-establishing the tree, as the roots; and indeed the two act so re- 
ciprocally with each other, that any considerable injury to the one 
always affects the other. " The functions of respiration, perspiration, 
and digestion," says Professor Lindley, " which are the particular of- 
fices of leaves, are essential to the health of a plant ; its healthiness 
being in proportion to the degree in which these functions are duly 



APPENDIX. 415 

performed. The leaf is in reality a natural contrivance fur exposing a 
large surface to the influence of external agents, by whose assistance 
the crude sap contained in the stem is altered, and rendered suitable to 
the particular wants of the species, and for returning into the general 
circulation, the fluids in their matured condition. In a word, the leaf 
of a plant is its lungs and stomach traversed by a system of veins."* 
All the pruning, therefore, that is necessary, when a tree is properly 
transplanted, will be comprised in paring smooth all bruises or acci- 
dental injuries, received by the roots or branches during the operation, 
or the removal of a few tliat may interfere with elegance of form in the 
head. 

Next in importance to the requisite care in performing the operation 
of transplanting, is the proper choice of individual trees to be transplanted. 
In making selections for removal among our fine forest trees, it should 
never be forgotten that there are two distinct kinds of subjects, even 
of the same species of every tree, viz. those that grow among and 
surrounded by other trees or woods, and those which grow alone, in 
free open exposures, where they are acted upon by the winds, storms, 
and sunshine, at all times and seasons. The former class it will alway? 
be exceedingly difficult to transplant successfully even with the 
greatest care, while the latter may always be removed with compara- 
tively little ri^k of failure. 

Any one who is at all familiar with the growth of trees in woods or 
groves somewhat dense, is also aware of the great difference in the 
external appearance between such trees and those wliich stand singly 
in open spaces. In thick woods, trees are found to liave tall, slendei 
trunks, with comparatively few branches except at the top, smooth and 
thin bark, and they are scantily provided with roots, but especially with 
the small fibres so essentially necessary to insure the growth of the tree 
when transplanted. Those, on the other hand, wliich stand isolated, 
have short thick stems, numerous branches, thick bark, and great 
abundance of root and small fibres. The latter, accustomed to the 
full influence of the weather, to cold winds as well as open sunshine 
have what Sir Henry Steuart has aptly denominated the " protecting 
properties," well developed ; being robust and hardy, they are well eal- 
* Theory of Horticulture. 



416 APPENDIX. 

culated to endure the violence of the removal, wliile trees growing ia 
the midst of a wood sheltered from the tempests by their fellows, and 
scarcely ever receiving the sun and air freely except at their topmost ■ 
branches, are too feeble to withstand the change of situation, when re- 
moved to an open lawn, even when they are carefully transplanted. 

" Of trees in open exposures," says Sir Henry, " we find that their 
peculiar properties contribute, in a remarkable manner, to their health 
and prosperity. In the first place, their shortness and greater girth of 
stem, in contradistinction to others in the interior of woods, are ob- 
viously intended to give to the former greater strength to resist the 
•winds, and a shorter lever to act upon the roots. Secondly, their 
larger -heads, with spreading branches, in consequence of the free ac- 
cess of light, are as plainly formed for the nourishment as well as the 
balancing of so large a trunk, and also for furnishing a cover to shield 
it from the elements. Thirdly, their superior thickness and induration 
of bark is, in like manner, bestowed for the protection of the sap-ves- 
sels, that lie immediately under it, and which, without such defence 
from cold, could not perform their functions. Fourthly, their greater 
number and variety of roots are for the double purpose of nourish- 
ment and strength ; nourishment to support a mass of such magnitude, 
and strength to contend with the fury of the blast. Such are the ob- 
vious purposes for which the unvarying characteristics of trees in open 
exposures are conferred upon them. Nor are they conferred equally 
and indiscriminately upon all trees ^so situated. They seem, by the 
economy of nature, to be peculiar adaplalions to the circumstances and 
wants of each individual, uniformly hestowed in the ratio of exposure, 
greater where that is more conspicuous, and uniformly decreasing, as it 
becomes less."* 

Trees in which the protecting properties are well developed are fre- 
quently to be met with on the skirts of woods ; but tho'se standing singly 
here and there, through the cultivated fields and meadows of our farm 
lands, where the roots have extended themselves freely in the mellow 
soil, are the finest subjects for removal into the lawn, park, or pleasure 
ground. 

* The Planter's Guide, p. 105. 



APPENDIX. 417 

The machine used ia removing trees of moderate size is of simple 
construction, consisting of a pair of strong wheels about five feet high, 
a stout axle, and a pole about twelve feet long. In transplanting, the 
wheels and axle are brought close to the trunk of the tree, the pole is 
firmly lashed to tlie stem, and when the soil is sufficiently removed and 
loosened about the roots, the pole, with the tree attached, is drawn 
down to a horizontal position by the aid of men and a pair of horses. 
When the tree is thus drawn out of the hole, it is well secured and 
properly balanced upon the machine, the horses are fastened in front 
of the mass of roots by gearings attached to the axle, and the whole 
is transported to the destined location. 

In order more cff'ectually to insure the growth of large specimens 
when transplanted, a mode of preparing beforehand a supply of young 
roots, is practised by skilful operators. This consists in removing the 
top soil, partially undermining the tree, and shortening back many of 
the roots; and afterwards replacing the former soil by rich mould, or 
soil well manured. This is suffered to remain at least one year, and 
often three or four years ; the tree, stimulated by the fresh supply of 
food, throws out an abundance of small fibres, which render success, 
when the time for removal arrives, comparatively certain. 

It may be well to remark here, that before large trees are transplant- 
ed into their final situations, the latter should be well prepared by 
trenching, or digging the soil two or three feet deep, intermingling 
throughout the whole a liberal portion of well decomposed manure, or 
rich compost. To those who are in the habit of planting trees of any 
size in unprepared grounds, or that merely prepared by digging one 
spit deep, and turning in a little surface manure, it is inconceivable how 
much more rapid is the growth,andhowa3tonishingly luxuriant the ap- 
pearance of trees when removed into ground properly prepared. It is 
not too much to affirm, that young trees under favorable circumstances 
— in soil so prepared — will advance more rapidly, and attain a larger 
stature in eight years, than those planted in the ordinary way, without 
deepening the soil, will in twenty — and trees of larger size in propor- 
tion; again of growth surely worth the trifling expense incurred in 
the fiist instance. And the same observation will apply to all plant- 

27 



118 APPENDIX. 

'j)g. A little extra labor and cost expended in preparing the soil will, 
for a long time, secure a surprising rapidity of growth.* 

In the actual planting of the tree, the chief point lies in bringing 
Jvery small fibre in contact with the soil, so that no hollows or inter- 
stices are left, which may produce raouldiness and decay of the roots. 
To avoid this, the soil must be pulverized with the spade before filling 
in, and one of the workmen, with his hands and a flat dibble of wood, 
should fill up all cavities, and lay out the small roots before covering 
them in their natural position. When watering is thought advisable 
(and we practise it almost invariably), it should always be done while 
the planting is going forward. Poured in the hole when the roots are 
just covered with the soil, it serves to settle the loose earth compactly 

* VVliere expense is not so raueli an object as success, we cannot too deeply 
impress upon planters the necessity of making very deep, and very wide holes, 
or pits, as they are called in England. These pits should be four to five feet 
deep, and not loss than ten to sixteen feet in diameter, and neither round nor 
equare, but star-shaped, or cross-shaped, of such a form as would be produced 
by placing one equilateral triangle upon another, or two parallelograms across 
each other, so as to form a Greek cross. 




The object of departing from the square, or round form, is to introduce the 
growing fibres of the young trees into the Ji7-m and jioor soil, ly degrees, and 
not all at once, as in the round or square-hole manner. 

When a tree is planted in the round or square pit, surrounded outside of it 
by poor, hard soil, it is very much in the same situation as if its roots were 
confined in a tub or box. 

The dove-tailing, so to speak, of the prepared soil, and of the moisture it 
will retain, with the hard, impenetrable soil by which it is surrounded, will 
gradually prepare the latter for being penetrated by the roots of the trees, and 
prevent the sides of the pit from giving the same check to those roots, which 
the sides of the pot or tub do to the plant contained in it. In the preparation 
of these holes, the lower spot, or hard-pan, should bo thrown out, and ten to 
twelve inches of stone substituted, for the double purpose of drainage, and 
retention of moisture in dry weather. — H. W. S. 



APPENDIX. 419 

around tlie various roots, and thus both furnishes a supply of moisture, 
and brings the pulverized mould in proper contact for growth. Trees 
well watered when planted in this way, will rarely require it after- 
wards; and should they do so, the better way is to remove two or 
three inches of the top soil, and give the lower stratum a copious sup- 
ply; when the water having been absorbed, the surfiice should again 
be replaced. There is no practice more mischievous to newly moved 
trees, than that of pouring water, during hot weather, upon the surface 
of the ground above the roots. Acted upon by the sun and wind, this 
surface becomes baked, and but little water reaches the roots ; or just 
sufficient, perhaps, to afford a momentary stimulus, to be followed by 
increased sensibility to the parching drought. 

With respect to the proper seasons for transplanting, we may remark 
that, except in extreme northern latitude, autumn planting is generally 
preferred for large, hardy, deciduous trees. It may commence as soon 
as the leaves fall, and may be continued until winter. In planting large 
trees in spring, we should commence as early as possiUe, to give them 
the benefit of the April rains ; if it should be deferred to a later period, 
the trees will be likely to suffer greatly by the hot summer sun before 
they are well established. 

The transplanting of evergreens is generally considered so much more 
difficult than that of deciduous trees, and so many persons wlio have 
tolerable success in the latter, fail in the former, that we may perhaps 
be expected to point out the reason of these frequent faiiures. 

Most of our horticultural maxims are derived from English authors 
and among them, that of always planting evergreens either in August 
or late in autumn. At both these seasons, it is nearly impossible to 
succeed in the temperate portions of the United States, from the dif- 
ferent character of our climate at these seasons. The genial moisture 
of the English ciimate renders transplanting comparatively easy at all 
seasons, but especially in winter, while in this country, our Augusts 
are dry and hot, and our winters generally dry and cold. If planted in 
the latter part of summer, evergreens become parched in their foliage, 
and soon perish. If planted in autumn or early winter, the severe cold 
that ensues, to which the newly disturbed plant is peculiarly alive, 
paralyses vital action, and the tree is so much enfeebled that, when 



420 APPENDIX. 

spring arrives, it survives but a short period. The only period, there- 
fure, that remains for the successful removal of evergreens here, is the 
spring. When planted as early as practicable in the spring, so as to 
have the full benefit of the abundant rains so beneficial to vegetation 
at that season, they will almost immediately protrude new shoots, and 
regain their former vigor. 

Evergreens are, in their roots, much more delicate and impatient of 
dryness than deciduous trees ; and this should be borne in mind while 
transplanting them. For this reason, experienced planters always 
choose a wet or misty day for their removal ; and, in dry weather, we 
would always recommend the roots to be kept watered and covered 
from the air by mats during transportation. When proper regard is 
paid to this point, and to judicious selection of the season, evergreens 
will not be found more difficult of removal than other trees. 

Another mode of transplanting large evergreens, which is very suc- 
cessfully practised among us, is that of removing them with frozen 
balls of earth in mid-winter. When skilfully performed, it is perhaps 
the most complete of all modes, and is so different from the common 
method, that the objection we have just made to winter planting doea 
not apply to this case. The trees to be removed are selected, the situa- 
tions chosen, and the holes dug, while the ground is yet open in autumn. 
When the ground is somewhat frozen, the operator proceeds to dig a 
trench around the tree at some distance, gradually undermining it, and 
leaving ail the principal mass of roots embodied in the ball of earth. 
The whole ball is then left to freeze pretty thoroughly (generally til] 
snow covers the ground), when a large sled drawn by oxen is brought 
as near as possible, the ball of earth containing the tree rolled upon it, 
and the whole is easily transported to the hole previously prepared, 
where it is placed in the proper position, and as soon as the weather 
becomes mild, the earth is properly filled in around the ball. A tree, 
either evergreen or deciduous, may be transplanted in this way, s,") as 
scarcely to show, at the return of growth, any ill effects from its 
change of location. 



APPENDIX. 42] 

n. 

Note on the treatment of Lawns 

As a lawn is the ground-work of a landscape garden, and as tha 
management of a dressed grass surfiice is still a somewhat ill-under- 
stood subject with us, some of our readers will, perhaps, be gVad to 
receive a very few liints on this subject. 

The unrivalled beauty of the "velvet lawns" of England has passed 
into a proverb. This is undoubtedly owing, in some measure, to their 
superior care and keeping, but mainly to the highly favorable climate 
of that moist and sea-girt land. In a very dry climate it is nearly 
impossible to preserve that emerald freshness in a grass surface, that 
belongs only to a country of " weeping skies," During all the present 
season, on the Hudson, where we write, the constant succession of 
showers has given us, even in the heat of midsummer, a softness and 
verdure of lawn that can scarcely be surpassed in any climate or 
country. 

Our climate, however, is in the middle states one of too much heat 
and brilliancy of sun, to allow us to keep our lawns in the best condi- 
tion without considerable care. Beautifully verdant in spring and 
autumn, they are often liable to suffer from drought in midsummer. 
On sandy soils, this is especially the case, while on strong loamy soils, 
a considerable drought will be endured without injury to the good 
appearance of the grass. It therefore is a suggestion worthy of the 
attention of the lover of a fine lawn, who is looking about for a 
country residence, to carefully avoid one where the soil is sandy. The 
only remedy in such a soil is a tedious and expensive one, that of con- 
stant and plentiful topdressing with a compost of manure and heavy 
soil— marsh mud— swamp muck, or the like. Should it fortunately be 
the case (which is very rare) that the sub-stratum is loamy, deep 
ploughing, or trenching, by bringing up and mixing with the light sur- 
face soil some of the heavier earth from below, will speedily tend to 
."•emedy the evil. 

In almost all cases where the soil is of good strength, a permanent 
lavrn may be secured by preparing the soil deeply before finally laying 
it down. This may be done readily, at but little outlay, by deep 



422 APPENDIX. 

ploughing — a good and chesp substitute for trenching — that is to say 
making the plough follow three times in the same furrow. This, with 
manure, if necessary, will secure a depth of soil sufficient to allow the 
roots of plants to strike below the effects of a surface drought. 

In sowing a lawn, the best mixture of grasses that we can recju. 
mend for this climate, is a mixture of Red-top and white Clover- -two 
natural grasses found by almost every roadside — in the proportio/i of 
three fourths of the former, to one of the latter. 

There is a common and very absurd notion current (which we. have 
several times practically disproved), that, in order to lay down a lawn 
well, it is better to sow the seed along with that of some grain ; thus, 
starving the growth of a small plant by forcing it to grow with a 
larger and coarser one. A whole year is always lost by this process — • 
indeed more frequently two. Many trials have convinced us that the 
proper mode is to sow a heavy crop of grass at once, and we advise 
him who desires to have speedily a handsome turf, to follow the 
English practice, and sow three to four bushels of seed to the acre. If 
this is done early in the spring, he will have a lawn-like surface by 
mid-summer, and a fine close turf the next season. 

After this, th'fe whole beauty of a lawn depends on frequent mowing. 
Once a fortnight at the furthest, is the rule for all portions of the lawn 
in the neighborhood of the house, or near the principal walks. A 
longer growth than this will only leave yellow and coarser stubble 
after mowing, instead of a soft velvet surftice. A broad-bladed English 
scythe (to be had at the shops of the seedsman), set nearly parallel to 
the surface, is the instrument for the purpose, and with it a clever 
mower will be able to shave within half an inch of the ground, with- 
out leaving any marks. To free the surface from worm casts, etc., it 
is a common practice to roll the previous evening as much as may be 
mown the next day. * 



* A very great improvement tiiid economy in tlie keeping of lawns now-a- 
days, is in the employment of the Lawn-cutter, by wliich one man, with a 
horse -machine, will accomplish, in two or three hours, more tlian a dozen men 
can in a whole day. The best English Ir.wn-cutters will cut, roll, and gather 
the grass from one acre, in one hour, where it is good, close turf, and there are 
no trees to interfere with the action of the machine. 



APPENDIX. 423 

As the neatness of a well kept lawn depends mainly upon the man- 
ner in which it is mown, and as this again can only be well done where 
there are no inequalities in the ground, it follows that the surface 
should be kept as smooth as possible. Before sowing a lawn, too 
much pains cannot be taken to render its surface smooth and even. 
After this, in the spring, before the grass starts, it should be exauiaad, 
and all little holes and irregularities filled up, and the same should be 
looked over at any annual top-dressing that may take place. The 

"When a lawn is in perfect condition, smooth, free from stones and inequali- 
ties, and is cut, as it ought to be, once a week, it is quite surprising how much 
gratification we derive from what used to be performed witli great labor, and 
often -with a very unsatisfactory result. There are very few places in the 
country where we can have complete lawns by the scythe, because, as the 
work must be performed early in the morning and late in the afternoon 
when the dew is on, it follows that a very large force, much larger than is 
usually kept even in our he^t places, must be required, to accomplish 
much in so short a time. In England, this is more easily done, because 
they turn on to the lawn at diiyliglit, ten to thirty men, from all parts of 
the place, who separate after 8, or 9, A. M., to their respective and regular 
duties — to the garden, to the farm, to the forest. We cannot afford to do 
this, and as our sun is much hotter, and our dew much less time in dura- 
tion than in England, it follows, that any improvement, which will allow us 
to cut our lawns throughout the heat of the day, is very desirable. This 
the mowing machine does, performing its work better when the dew is 
off, than on, and allowing us to mow, roll, and gather up, at the same time, and 
by the same means. All that remains subsequently to do, is to clip with scythe 
or eickle around the edges and verges, as well as near trees, or masses of shrubs, 
very close to which the machine should not be allowed to pass. We have found 
more satisfoction in the use of this machine, than in any other thing we have 
done since we lived in the country, and have novr got our lawn into such a 
responsive and genial condition, that (except during May and June, when the 
growth of grass is more rampant, and has to be gathered), we have removed 
our box for catching the grass as it falls from the rollers, and permit it 
to fly in a little shower all over the lawn, as the cutting progresses. In 
this way, the lawn-top dresses itself, by returning all that it produces. 
By cutting and rolling once a week, this weekly cutting amounts to 
little more than snipping off the points of shoots lialf to three-quarters of 
an inch long, which have projected above the cutting-grade of the machine, 
and which are scattered in this sort of grassy shower on the lawn, decaying 
or disappearing in course of two to three hours, while all below the grade 
becomes pressed and matted by the roller into a fine and verdant soc* — 
H. W. S. 



424 APPENDIX. 

occasional use of a heavy roller, after rain, will also greatly tend to 
remedy all defects of this nature. 

Where a piece of land is long kept in lawn, it must have an occa- 
sional lop-dressing every two or three years, if the soil is rich, or every 
season, if it is poor. As early as possible in the spring is the best 
time to apply such a top-dressing, which may be a compost of any 
decayed vegetable or animal matter — heavier and more abounding with 
marsh mud, etc., just in proportion to the natural lightness of the soil. 
Indeed almost every season the lawn should be looked over, all weeds 
taken out, and any poor or impoverished spots plentifully top-dressed, 
and, if necessary, sprinkled with a little fresh seed. Wood ashes, 
either fresh or leached, is also one of the most etRcient fertilizers of a 
lawn. 

We can already, especially in the finer places on the Hudson, and 
about Boston, boast of many finely kept lawns, and we hope every 
day, as the better class of country residences increases, to see this 
indispensable feature in tasteful grounds becoming better understood 
and more universal. 



■s-M^i^^^M^Zf. ,^ iif- 




I : 0^ 




/ J- 



f^r 



SUPPLEMENT 



SIXTH EDITION 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING: 



COSTAININO 

SOME EEilARKS ABOUT COUNTRY PLACES, AND THE BEST 

METHODS OP MAKING THEM; ALSO, AN ACCOUNT OF 

THE NEWER DECIDUOUS AND EVERGREEN PLANTS, 

LATELY INTRODUCED INTO CULTIVATION, 

BOTH HARDY AND HALF-HARDY. 



HENRY WINTHROP SARGENT. 



' Dant utile lignum 



Navigiis pinos, donilbus cedros que cupressos qtje." 
Geor. ii. 442. 



SUPPLEMENT TO LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



SECTION I. 

SOME GENERAL REMAKKS ON LANDSCAPE GARDENING AND 
COUNTRY PLACES. 

Great as was the impetus given to the public mind 
by the first appearance of this book in 1841, and great 
as has been the advantage derived from its publication 
since, not only in assisting by certain rules as far as it is 
possible to apply rules to an art, but also in developing 
and fostering rural tastes, yet, we think, it must be 
conceded by observing and discriminating persons, that 
the style of our country places is still vastly inferior 
to the very marked improvement in Eural Architecture 
during the past ten years. 

This has arisen partly from the fact that no sensible 
man attempts to build his own house, and the necessity 
of employing architects has not only developed much 
ability in our own professors of this art, but has also 
given us the additional advantage of a great deal of for- 
eign talent and skill. 

This has not been the case with Landscape Gardening. 
There has been no one since Mr. Downing's death who 
has exactly filled the niche he occupied in the public 
estimation. AVe do not mean to say that there are not 
at present in this country, gentlemen of taste and know- 
ledge, and who are professional Landscape Gardeners of 
sufficient ability to take any place and to make it all 
that is desirable ; but there is no one, we think, wdiose 
judgment and opinions would have, at this moment, 
such decided and marked influence in all matters of 

427 



428 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

rural taste, as the late Mr. DowniDg exercised at the 
time of his death. 

"While, therefore, the excellence of country houses 
has greatly increased, the improvement in country 
places is not so evident. A great many persons are 
either too indolent or too busy to give much attention 
to the capabilities or wants of their places. The former 
fall easily into the hands of an inferior class of nursery- 
men, or job-planters, and become a ready prey to the 
most tasteless imposition, while the latter crowd into a 
few hours a day the arrangement and adornment of 
grounds which should require many months of thought 
and study. 

We Americans are, as a general rule, in too great 
a hurry " to get through." We are apt to allow our- 
selves to go into the country without quite understand- 
ing what we are to do there, or how we are to live, or 
whether we have true taste and capacity for country 
life. Most persons are satisfied while building their 
house and attempting to arrange their grounds. The 
first is comparatively easy, for we have only to com- 
municate to an architect our general wishes, and it be- 
comes his duty to carry them out ; the second is more 
perplexing, simply because we do not know what we 
want, or we want to have everything we have seen 
that has struck us as desirable. We do not stop to 
consider whether a certain style of planting or selection 
of trees, harmonizes either with our house or is in 
character with our grounds. We have an indefinite 
idea of the pleasure certain effects gave us in other coun- 
try places, and we are determined to have those eifects 
in our own, without any reference to propriety or good 
taste, not from obstinacy, but from ignorance. We have, 
to be sure, certain rules for planting, but the lazy are 
too indolent, and the busy are too hurried to read or 
study them. The suggestions of others are readily taken, 
and the most incongruous and imperfect results necessar- 



GENERAL REMAKES. 429 

ily ensue, A willow drooping over a rustic bridge, and 
a pine waving its giant limbs on a rocky eminence, are 
each charming in its place, because in harmony witb 
surrounding nature ; but pines and willows alternating 
around a house, or on a flat approach road, are most 
discordant and in the vilest taste, and yet we constantly 
meet with discrepancies in new country places, not a 
whit less barbarous. 

A common error, and we think a very decided one, in 
our new places, is the anxiety to have flowers and 
flowering shrubs M'hile the place is still in the rough, 
and before we know where to put them with propriety. 

A very usual employment of new grounds immediately 
adjacent to the house, is the most injudicious and taste- 
less admixture of decapitated forest trees and dahlias, 
with vases, evergreens, roses, altheas, and the various 
common plants, indiscriminately put together, a few 
inches, or at most a few feet apart, in the coarse weedy 
grass, which is the best apology for lawn M'hich could 
be got up in the time — exposed to the carelessness of 
workmen, and the depredation of roadside cattle. "We 
have even seen avenues — and in places too, where 
otherwise there are evidences of good taste — planted 
with alternate rows of forest trees and dahlias, with an 
occasional rose tree or geranium. Nothing, we con- 
ceive, can be in worse taste than this ; for though 
nothing can well be prettier than a rose in a rose gar- 
den properly surrounded by the most refined and orna- 
mental shrubs, like a jewel in an appropriate setting, 
yet can anj^thing be more improper or discordant than 
the same rose in a stubble field, or what is quite as in- 
appropriate, in the i-ough and ill-kept grounds of a raw 
and unfinished place. Refinement must be associated 
with and surrounded by refinement, or it loses half its 
charm. We hear of and sometimes see a rough dia- 
mond ; but no one, we think, will pretend to say that 



430 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

the same diamond polished and properly set, is not in- 
finitely more attractive. 

Besides which, no flowers do well nnder such circum. 
stances ; the ground is hard and rough, and the plants 
being placed immediately under the drip, and amidst 
the roots of trees, do not receive the full benefit of 
either sun, air, or soil, and yield the most unsatisfactory 
returns for the expenditure of a great deal of time and 
money. 

Whether flowers should or should not be planted at 
all around a house, is a question of considerable mo- 
ment, and as a general rule, we must confess, our own 
judgment is against it ; we think the only exception is 
where it is desirable to retain the view from the princi- 
pal windows either within the lawn, or within the imme- 
diate surroundings of the house, from the more distant 
prospect being flat and uninteresting, or containing 
objects decidedly disagreeable. 

In such cases, the more the eye can be prevented 
from wandering to the distant points, the better, and 
this can be accomplished in no m.ore pleasing way 
than by surrounding the house with the most dazzling 
flower-beds, or the most striking architectural orna- 
ments, gr.ch as vases, sun-dials, terraces, and fountains, 
or distinctive and remarkable trees or plants. 

Where, however, as is most often, we think, the case 
in this country, the place itself is of sufiicient size or 
elevation to create a distant prospect which is agree- 
able, or the view beyond the boundaries presents 
natural features of an attractive character, such as fine 
mountains, lakes, or rivers, or distant peeps of pastoral 
country, or pretty villages, then it is not desirable 
to fritter these away by flowers or any objects near the 
house ; but the arrangements of the grounds should be 
of the most simple character, and partake of that smooth 
harmonious forin, most suggestive of the repose and 
quiet which we seem always inseparably to associate 



GENKKAL KEMAKKS. 431 

with a well-ordered country place. The trees should be 
so arranged, that while forming natural and graceful 
groups, they should act as it were as frames, through 
which the distant views or objects of interest on or 
beyond the place, seem to appear to the greatest 
advantage. We do not certainly wish to interdict ail 
flowers, or banish them from the vicinity of the house ; 
far from it. We think, on the contrary, a bed or so of 
roses, or a mass of the sweet-scented honeysuckle and 
fragrant clematis immediately under the windows of the 
drawing room, are most desirable, that we may enjoy 
their fragrance of a summer evening. We would only 
so arrange or place them, that they should in no way 
disturb the view by withdrawing the eye from some- 
thing much finer beyond. 

Nothing can Avell be prettier or in better taste than 
an architectural flower garden, opening from the break- 
fast or morning room, or perhaps on a side of the house, 
where the view is confined and shut in by ornamental 
shrubs, and M'liich seems, by a judicious transition, to 
connect the house and the grounds ; but we think on 
those sides where the views are, and especially on the 
entrance front, there should be nothing but the simplest 
and most dignified arrangements of trees and grass. 

There is another, and we think a very sensible reason, 
why flowers and flowering shrubs should not be intro- 
duced, in profusion at least, either along the borders 
of the approach road, or in the immediate vicinity of 
the entrance front. 

It is well laid down by the English Landscape Gar- 
deners, that fi"om the time the house is first seen on an 
approach, it should not be lost sight of. It being the 
highest architectural object on the place, no rural 
objects, like flowers, or any architectural features of 
lower art, like statues, or vases, should be permit- 
ted to divert the eye of the visitor, which they would 
be very apt to do, if from no other reason than the care 



433 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

and attention necessary to prevent driving over or against 
tliem. It is particularly objectionable, therefore, to 
place rows or masses of green-house plants, as is often 
done, on either side of the entrance, which are sure to 
be more or less injured by hungry horses and careless 
coachmen. 

And finally, in this country where we have no rural 
Bports as in England, nothing in fact for the amuse- 
ment of our friends and visitors, except what is beautiful 
or interesting on our grounds or in our gardens, we 
have always thought it highly desirable not to tell our 
whole story from the house, but to set aside in different 
and distant portions of the place all our objects of 
interest ; a flower garden in one spot, the vegetable 
garden in another, an arboretum or pinetum in a third, 
and so make and multiply as it were, various interests 
in different parts — properly connected, but as widely 
separated as convenience or space will allow — which 
shall furnish to our guests excuses for a walk, and give to 
a small place the appearance of a large one ; in other 
words to afford as much interest and diversion as the 
capacity of the grounds will allow, and prevent that 
ennui and fatigue, which nothing to see and nothing to 
do, produces not only in our visitors, but in our own 
families. We cannot well imagine anything more 
dreary than those country places where there is no 
motive to go out, because everything is gathered and 
crowded around the house and can be seen from the 
windows. 

Although we know there is nothing produced without 
labor, yet it is not pleasant to be always forced to realize 
it. Kepose is, we think, almost as essential to the 
highest charm of a country place as it is for our own 
comfort. The clink of the hammer and the sound of 
the anvil are all very well in their way, yet one does 
not desire to hear always these evidences of human toil. 
If therefore we surround our house with a multiplicity 



GENERAL KEMAKKS. 433 

of objects requiring constant care and attention, we are 
never free from the labor of life. The highest cliarm 
of a country place is the appearance of the most refined 
culture and beautiful results produced without apparent 
effort. 

In fairy tales, or fairy plays upon the stage, the fas- 
cination is in the magic result produced apparently by 
the touch of the wand. If we are permitted to gen 
behind the curtain and witness the hurry and vexation 
of the scene shifters, and the groaning, shrieking process 
by which to the unconscious spectators a desert sud- 
denly becomes a paradise, we immediately realize the 
apples of the Dead Sea. "We do not enjoy that which 
we see is produced through the agency of aching bones 
and wearji- limbs — and this is one reason why Nature 
is so attractive, because she works silently, or as a child 
once expressed it, " without her shoes." 

In the best English places, to such an extent is this 
feeling carried out, that the entire machinery is kept 
out of sight; and flowers bloom, and lawns are shorn, 
and walks are swept by invisible hands, at such hours 
as the family is supposed not to come out. 

It is told of the late Mr. Beckford, the eccentric 
and talented author of Yathek, that he never allowed 
any work to be done at Fonthill Abbey during the day ; 
but if he wished a walk cut, or a new -plantation made, 
he used to say nothing in wa}^ of preparation, but merely 
gave orders, perhaps late in the afternoon, that the im- 
provement or alteration should be completed and in a per- 
fect state by the following morning at the time he came 
out to take his usual ride. The whole force of the place 
and the strength of the neighboring village were then 
put into requisition and employed all night. We men- 
tion this, not as an example — for there are very few of 
us who would or could afford to spend, as Mr. Beck- 
ford did at Fonthill, twelve or fifteen millions of dollars 
— but simply to show how strongly English prejudice is 
28 



434 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

against the visible connection of labor with the imme- 
diate adornment of their country homes. Labor in its 
proper place — in the forest, or garden, or harvest field — 
is a necessary and appropriate feature ; but they strive 
to banish it as much as possible from the repose and 
quiet and simple beauty around the house, by pushing 
off to more distant, and as they think, more suitable 
localities, those operations with the soil which require 
the constant supervision and presence of man. It is 
principall}'' on this account, besides the other reasons 
we have given, that the best examples of English places 
present a simple dignified combination of trees and 
lawn about the house — certainly on hvo or three sides — 
while the mass of pleasure grounds and flower gardens 
are usually at some distance. 

If we were more willing in this country to follow such 
good examples, and aim at simplicity and breadth of ef- 
fect, instead of carving up our grounds about our houses 
with " fragmentary pieces of misplaced ornament," our 
places would not be so lamentably deficient in character 
and beauty, or so frittered away into an exceedingly dis- 
tasteful and artificial appearance. 

Another mistake in American places is the want of a 
proper termination to the ornamental grounds, or, rather, 
some intelligible division between the ornamental and 
practical. 

"We use the expression "intelligible," because we all 
keep (or pretend to) under the roller and' scythe, every 
two or three weeks, a certain quantity of lawn, say 
from one hundred feet to an acre or more, and at the 
end of the last swarth starts up a hay-field, which is 
mown over perhaps twice in the season ; but, in most 
cases, there seems no reason why the lawn should 
end and the hay-field begin just where they do, instead 
of ten or one hundred feet one way or the other ; in fact 
there is no good reason ; for the length and breadth of 
the lawn often depends upon the horticultural zeal or 



GENERAL REMARKS. 435 

pecimiaiy position for the moment. If the first mow- 
ing of the season is made under the receipt of an in- 
creased or unexpected dividend, the lawn gets a swarth 
or two more, and a cock or two of hay is subtracted 
from the harvest ; while the next year, under a smaller 
income, thrift conquers taste, and the lawn, instead of 
being shorn of its grass, is shorn of its fair proportions. 

In order to make some appropriate boundary or divis- 
ion between the lawn and the park, or hay-field ; in other 
words, between the dressed and undressed portions of 
the estate, great use has been made of late years of the 
wire fence or hurdle. By its adoption we might dimin- 
ish the amount of lawn now kept under the scj^the, ob- 
taining similar results by substituting cattle — especially 
sheep — and increasing very much the charm of the 
landscape by the introduction of animated nature. 

The keenest eye can haixlly detect a wire fence at 
thirty or forty rods distance ; consequently our finest 
places do not really require a lawn larger than twice 
this breadth in diameter, provided the grass on the 
other side of the wire is kept equally short by sheep. 

It is quite astonishing in England how very small the 
proportion of mown lawn is to that part which, by use 
of invisible wire fencing, is kept equally short and 
almost in as tine order, by gi-azing. 

At Windsor Castle we doubt if the mown border or 
strip of grass round the park-side of the castle exceeds 
fifty to one hundred feet up to the wire fence, beyond 
which, in the park, are large masses of rhododenrons, 
laurels, Portugal laurels, etc., protected from thousands 
of deer and sheep which surround them, by invisible wire 
fences. 

At Longleat, the magnificent seat of the Marquis of 
Bath — which Charles IL on his return from his exile 
then considered the finest place in England — there is a 
strip of three hundred feet of mown lawn planted 
with rare shrubs, between the river and one side only 



436 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

of the house, and separated from six hundred acres, or 
more, of grazed park by the invisible wire fence. At 
Wilton House (Lord Pembroke), Appelder-Court, Good- 
wood (the Duke of Richmond's), Blenheim, Chatsworth, 
Stowe, and many more of the best examples of Englisli 
places that we remember, the amount of mown lawn 
consists really of little more than the grass borders of 
walks, or the strips which divided or surrounded planta- 
tions in the gardens and shrubberies. Three sides of 
the houses are thrown open, and kept short by deer and 
sheep. 

Although grazing is not as profitable in this country 
as in England, where the soft, mossy grass of the parks 
is usually verdant and green all summer, yet mnch 
more can be done than is. We know many a fine 
place where large expenditures have been made on 
houses and grounds, where the entire effect has been 
completely destroyed by the most mistaken economy 
of allowing the fields w'hich surround the house, to grow 
up for hay, instead of being kept short by grazing as a 
park. 

In order to save a few hundred dollars of hay, the 
whole effect of hundreds of thousands of dollars in 
houses and grounds is completely lost. 

If people will persist in this mistaken thrift, they 
should, at least, plant their grazing or hay-fields in 
clumps and masses of trees, appropriately and naturally 
placed for park-like effects, and which would not materi- 
ally interfere with the plough or the harrow, when 
necessary to use them. 

33y surrounding these plantations with invisible wire 
fences, which are quite lost against the foliage, they 
cculd at any time, when in grass, be converted into 
parks simply by the introduction of cattle and sheep. 



HOW TO MAKE A COUNTKY PLACE. 437 



SECTION II. 

HOW TO MAKE A COUNTRY PLACE. 

OiV the Continent and in England, it is rarely that a 
new place is made from the beginning. The taste for 
country life having existed as long as England herself 
has existed, the whole kingdom may be said to be one 
universal garden ; all who can, from the sovereign to 
the cit, live, at least some portion of the year, in the 
country ; in fact, one's respectability is not complete, 
unless he is a landed proprietor. If, as we said in our 
preface, there are in England 20,000 country houses, 
each larger than the White House, at Washington, 
there are more than twice that number, a great "deal 
smaller. 

Places change hands, but few new places are made. 
This is not the case in this country. We have but few 
old estates, and those, M-henever ofiered for sale are 
generally so run down and desolate as to afford little 
attraction to the beginner of country life ; besides which 
the nniversal delusion among us is that we can make a 
country place, cheaper than we can buy one. While 
we are alarmed at a sum total, we easily reconcile our- 
selves to progressive expenditure, until, in the end, we 
realize " that fools build houses and wise men live in 
them." 

This is one great reason, we have always thought, why 
makers of new places so soon become discontented and 
discouraged, and ready to sell out at a sacrifice. A 
man who hesitates to give $20,000, or $100,000 for a 



438 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

country place, and even feels indignant at the suppo- 
sition that he could be guilty of such folly, if he at- 
tempts to make his own place, generally ends by spend- 
ing twice as much. 

"We refuse to pay $25,000 outright, and we hug our- 
selves with the idea that our land will cost but $6,000, 
atid our house $8,000, and our stable $1,000, and sun- 
dries $500. But, unfortunately, these sundries are the 
rocks on which much rural enthusiasm is lost. It is the 
ice-house, and the root-house, and the garden er's-house, 
and the green-house, and the grape-house, with the 
grading, and road making, and trenching, and digging, 
and the labor necessary to keep these all up, that exhaust 
both our enthusiasm and our purse, and make us see, in 
the end, what we could not see in the beginning, viz : 
That it is always better to purchase an improved place, 
or one partially improved, than to begin one. For, 
it may be laid down as an inevitable rule, and prevent 
much subsequent disappointment, whenever any im- 
provements at all are contemplated (and it is difficult, 
where we have no amusements or sports, to be contented 
without doing something), to remember one fact, that 
the modern accessories to a country place are at least 
equivalent to first cost of house and grounds — that is to 
say, where the improvements are in keeping with the 
house and place, and continued for a series of years. 

Tliere are two styles of new places most commonly, 
we think, attempted in this country, viz : A place with- 
out any foliage, or possibly a few stunted or unavail- 
able trees, where all the effects are to be produced by 
the spade (in planting) ; and, secondly, a dense wood, 
where the place is to be made mostly by the axe : and 
we propose to illustrate these two schools by giving 
the history of our own residence as a specimen of the 
latter, and " Wellesley," the residence of H. H. Hun- 
newell, Esq., near Boston, as a specimen of the former. 
"We should, perhaps, mention here, that it is with much 



HOW TO MAKE A COUNTRY PLACE. 439 

liesitation we find ourselves compelled to say so much 
about these two places, especially our own ; but we 
have known them both from their commencement, with 
all their sins of omission and commission ; and with 
all the motives and designs for each step taken in their 
improvement, and the reason why every tree was 
planted or cut down on either place, which is a know- 
ledge we have of no other place, and more than all, as 
one was a dense wood and the other a naked field, they 
are better examples of the two styles than any other 
places we recollect, even if we had been equally 
familiar with others. 

"When we purchased our own place, in 1840, we found 
a house partially built in the midst of a wood, but 
without any view, though we were aware that we had, 
or ought to have, a range of mountains on one side, the 
Hudson River on the other, a valley on the third, and 
a long range of country on the fourth ; but between us 
and these views, and all more or less around us, were 
thinly scattered houses, which were far from agreeable 
accessories to the landscape. 

We felt, after studyiiig our position, that our plan 
ought to be to conceal these offensive objects, by plant- 
ing them out, and to open up the attractive points of 
river, valley, and mountain ; but how to do this was the 
question ! 

The trees, like all trees grown in a forest, were tall 
and spindling, hiding out with their heads what they 
should not have concealed, and opening through their 
naked stems what ought to have been hid ; our object 
therefore, was to get the brandies of these trees (prin- 
cipally oaks and hickories) down near the ground, in 
order to form masses and groups, not only to hide out our 
boundaries and these objectionable houses, but also to pro- 
duce certain effects of light and shade, as the beginning 
and basis of ornamental planting. "We accomplished 
this in part by topping all the trees which had any signs 



440 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

of vitality in their lower branches, as low as there avrp 
young wood enough to carry on the circulation. Many 
trees seventy feet in height, we thus reduced to thirty 
and forty. This formed a thicket of background from 
which we took, year by year, the w^eakest and most 
misshapen ; so that a mass, composed, eighteen years ago, 
of fifty or sixty trees, seventy or seventy-five feet high, 
is now reduced to twenty or thirty trees only forty 
feet high, but denser, and covering much more space 
than double the number of original trees. Where 
necessary to obtain certain extended views, we cut boldly 
and irregularly through the mass, producing, after some 
years growth, the effect as represented in Fig. 88, 
entitled, "View from Library AVindow." Where we 
accomplished two distinct landscapes — the one includ- 
ing a charmingly wooded point called " Presqu-ile,"' 
the residence of Mrs. Denning, with a distant view of 
Idlowild, the residence of N. P. Willis, across the 
river ; and the other a portion of PoUapells' island — 
with a fine eftect of the Dunderberg or Storm King, 
as background. 

But, in process of time, finding that from the irregular 
shape of the house — a view of the river side of which 
appears as frontispiece to this Supplement — we could, by 
careful planting against the masses forming the bound- 
aries to the view referred to (Fig. 88), not only produce 
more agreeable and ornamental efiects from the win- 
dows, but confine to each window one distinct and 
separate view, which should be seen from that one 
window and that alone — while it had also the effect of 
lengthening and extending the vistas, making, as it 
were, a series of cabinet pictures — we advanced an 
irregular plantation of the most ornamental, trees in 
front of these two masses, completely masking them; 
and while very much extending the view by an apparent 
and, indeed, an actual elongation, it also substituted from 
the windows an ornamental grouping between the house 



HOW TO MAKE A COUNTRY PLACE. 441 

and the natural grouping, which is, however, omitted 
in this sketch. 

The view from the breakfast-room window (Fig. 89), 
opened for the purpose of introducing a part of New- 
burgh and a fine wooded bank below the town, was made 
in the same waj — the decapitated forest trees having 
in a few years become thick and umbrageous, made an 
admirable back ground for an ornamental facing of the 
choicest trees, botli deciduous and evergreen, while 
these various masses, all now more or less surrounded 
with the rarest trees, are connected together and made 
to harmonize by small irregular groups and single 
trees, blending the different parts into one whole, but 
so arranged as not to injure the most striking views — 
ample sjiace being left for the full development of single 
specimens and loose groups. 

On the other side of the house — in the view entitled, 
"View across the park" (Fig. 90) — our intention was 
to attempt, with no other aid but the axe, a park- 
like effect by the grouping and massing of certain native 
oaks, without the aid of any artificial planting. This was 
effected by selecting the best specimens standing suffi- 
ciently near to each other for this purpose, and leaving 
around them a large circle of forest trees as nurses, which 
we thinned out from the inside, year by year, giving the. 
perraanent trees more and more light and space, until 
finally they stood alone, and have since continued to 
thrive; though if we had thinned out immediately every- 
thing about them, they would probably have perished 
from the too sudden removal of their accustomed shelter; 
but by diminishing their nurses gradually in successive 
3'ears, the trees to remain, became by degrees fortified 
and strengthened by extended roots, and now stand as 
well alone as if they had been planted for this purpose. 
The boundaries of the place were treated in a similar 
manner; the original trees reduced to half or two-thirds 
their height, and, when thick and bushy, faced with 



442 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

ornamental plantations, as an arboretum, with collections 
of trees in families, and also a portion as a plnetum — 
each genus being kept by itself — and through which is a 
walk making the circuit of the place ; the whole being 
divided by a wire fence from the portion above des- 
cribed as arranged for a park, which is kept short by 
cattle and sheep. 

All the space necessary for vegetable and flower gar- 
dens, pinetum, arboretum, orchards, etc., was, of course, 
taken entirely from the wood — the trees being cut down 
and their roots grubbed up. 

Having attempted to describe a place made by the 
axe, out of a wood, we will now give some account of 
the other and diiferent style of country residence before 
referred to, entirely by the spade and from the ground. 

The whole estate at "Wellesley" consists, we be- 
lieve, of two hundred acres, being an unimproved por- 
tion of an old family place of many hundred acres. 

The part selected by Mr. Hunnewell for the orna- 
mental improvement of his grounds comprises about 
forty acres, originally a flat, sandy, arid plain, which, 
when he took it in hand, in 1851, only seven years 
since, was more or less covered with a tangled growth 
of dwarf pitch pine, scrub oak, and birch, all of which 
were cut down and ploughed up. 

The first thing done was to trench over and thorough- 
ly prepare with composted muck, an acre or more for a 
nursery, which was planted with large quantities of 
Norway spruce, white pines, balsams, Austrian pines, 
Scotch firs, larch, beech, oaks, elms, maples, etc., mostly 
imported from England, not over twelve to fifteen 
inches high, with some few native trees of greater age, 
previously prepared. The lawn was then graded, sub- 
soiled, and a large portion trenched by spade, and after 
being very heavily manured and enriched with com- 
post, was for several years cultivated in order to amelior- 
ate and subdue the soil ; the boundaries of the place, 



HOW TO MAKE A COUNTRY PLACE. 443 

especially on the exposed part towards the public load, 
were then trenched over twenty to fifty feet broad, 
heavily composted and planted with a judicious mixture 
of evergreens and ornamental trees. The border, how- 
ever, for many years, until the trees were fifteen to 
twenty feet high, and in many cases touched each other, 
was annually enriched and planted in potatoes, the crop 
being some remuneration for the expense. 

The next step after deciding upon the situation of the 
house, was to form the avenues and plant them ; the one 
from the Boston entrance, with alternating Pinus excelsa, 
and Magnolia tripetala at one end, and with large mas- 
ses of rhododendrons, Kalmia latifolia, Mahonias, and 
other rare evergreen shrubs, as a frontage to aback ground 
of ITorway spruces at the other ; until tlie road reaches 
the Italian garden, with a view of the lake on one side, 
and the house and lawn on the other, when the avenue 
effect of the planting ceases — and groups, masses, and 
single specimens, and the ornamental arrangement, 
shown in the view, commence. 

The other avenue from the Natick entrance is plant- 
ed with rows of white pine and larch, now, perhaps, 
twenty to twenty-five feet high, and being all fine 
trees, the effect is already very marked. 

The next step was to plant the lawn of about eight 
acres with the best specimens selected from the nurseries 
or border plantations. This has been most cleverly and 
successfully done, much of it in the winter w4tli frozen 
balls and with the most ornamental and choicest trees ; in 
some cases large specimens twenty to thirty feet high 
were brought twenty miles, but even after the clumps, 
masses, and single specimens on the lawn were arranged 
and planted, it was still annually enriched and cultivated, 
and the ground around each tree and mass of trees is, 
even to this day, kept clean to a circle following the 
drip of the branches. 

The house, a front or entrance view of which is given 



444 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

in Plate III., was then built, having among other fine 
features, a hall of 54x18 feet running through it ; on 
one side, the fine extent of simple and dignified lawn, 
and on the other side is a French parterre or architec- 
tural garden (Plate IV.) with fountains, bordered by 
heavy balustrades, surmounted at intervals by vases, 
with steps leading through a series of terraces to the 
lake, a fine sheet of water of about a mile in extent, 
having a peculiarly varied and beautiful outline. Prom 
this French parterre, stretches off on the right the 
ornamental or English pleasure-grounds, a part of the 
same view, showing the summer-house very artist- 
ically rusticated, with colored glass windows, pro- 
ducing very curious efifects of contrast by the stained 
glass. 

From this we pass along the lake to the Italian garden, 
of which we have given a view in Plate Y., and which 
is the most successful, if not the only one as yet in 
the countr_y. The efiect, especially by moonlight, of 
the lake seen through the balustrades of the parapet, 
and among the vases and statues which surmount it — 
with the splashing of the fountain, and the very unique 
features, at least in this country, of the formally clipped 
trees and topiary work, quite lead us to suppose we 
are on the lake of Como. 

To Mr. Ilunnewell, we believe, is due the merit of 
having first attempted to clip our white pine, and the 
result shows that it bears the shears quite as well as the 
hemlock or yew ; though in this garden are equally 
successful specimens of clipped Nor ways, balsams, arbor 
vit?e, the English maple, the beech and Scotch firs. 

From the Italian garden we cross the avenue into a 
wood, through which winds a walk planted on either 
side with a very extensive and satisfactory pinetum, 
containing all the rarest and newest conifers and ever- 
green shrubs, and which with the sliglit protection from 
the winter's sun, seem to thrive exceedingly well. 



^ r 



^ 



t 





HOW TO MLA^KE A COUNTRY PLACE. 445 

Among other features of this place, and accomplished 
like everything else, within seven years, are various 
vistas through dilEferent avenues planted for this pur- 
pose — some of purple beech, others of white pine — all 
of which will in a few years become very interesting 
and effective. 

If to the above we add the extensive and well- 
conducted vegetable and fruit gardens surrounded by 
most admirably kept hedges, an abundance of well 
trained fruit trees, peach, grape, and green-houses, 
and a steam engine for forcing water into a reservoir, 
from which distributing pipes conduct it over all the 
gardens, we shall, we think, conclude a description of 
a place almost unequalled in this country, considering 
the few years only it has existed. 

Mr. Hunnewell's success has been attributable in the 
first place, to working on a plan — making no or few 
mistakes — having little or nothing to undo, and lastly, 
having the taste and ability to do everything thoroughly 
and well ; always keeping up what has been done, 
so that neither tree or flower, or lawn, is ever permitted 
to flag. 

Of the two places above described as illustrating the 
two schools most common in this country, we believe 
we shall afford consolation to many beginners of naked 
places by saying that our experience is extremely ad- 
verse to all attempts at converting a wood into any 
thing ornamental. 

If two places of the same size were commenced the 
same day, by persons of equal taste, knowledge, and 
means, one a wood and the other a naked plain, at the 
end of ten years the naked plain would be the finer 
and more satisfactory. 

In the first place, if one in planting, will make lii? 
holes wide and deep enough, and with judicious prepa- 
ration of the soil ; if instead of the ordinary three 
feet wide by two feet deep, our holes are prepared 



446 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

twelve feet wide and six feet deep, it would be easy 
enough to predict the result at the end of five or six 
years. Besides which it is a very simple matter to know 
the efiect certain trees or certain groups of trees are 
going to produce by setting up a few stakes, which 
shall cover the same extent of ground ; and it is a 
very easy matter to move these groups of stakes until 
they are rightly and properly placed beyond any ques- 
tion, and then to proceed with our planting. By con- 
tinuing in this way with all our planting we may, as 
we have shown elsewhere, get every thing placed, with- 
out the possibility of error. 

It is impossible to do this in a wood. We cannot 
carve out the views and the groups and masses, exactly 
as we wish, because we cannot find the trees always 
ready to assist us. It often happens that the finest tree is 
just where we should prefer to have none; and where 
we want density and bulk to hide unsightly objects, we 
have naked poles of fifty feet, with ten feet of brush 
up in the sky instead of where it should be, on the ground. 
There is no remedy in such cases but to cut down our 
fine tree or abandon the view it hides, and also to cut 
down our unavailable giants and to plant in their places. 
We are, in this instance, not as well oft' as our friend 
without trees, because we have to do all that he does 
with the additional labor of grubbing up the old stumps 
and renewing the soil before planting. There are, to 
be sure, instances as we have mentioned in our own 
case above, where we can make the native forest avail- 
able by topping those trees whicli will admit it, and by 
planting among and in front of them ; but even this, 
for many years, is not satisfactory. The dignity of the 
original trees, if any dignity is left, is mncli injured and 
frittered away by being side by side with our newly 
planted Norways and hemlocks of only three feet in 
height ; while these, which, in a few years at least, would 
have made their mark, if no comparisons could have been 



HOW TO MAKE A COUNTRY PLACE. 447 

instituted, will now always appear to a disadvantage in 
connection with the forest, besides the injury to their 
progress from the roots and drip of their hungry and 
uncouth companions. 

There is, to be sure a certain class or condition of 
wood which chance or design has from year to year 
thinned out, and cattle cleared of undergrowth, re- 
sembling the oak openings of the West, which becomes 
after a while a sort of natural park, most desirable for 
country residences, but the thick, tangled, inextricable 
wood which will not readily admit any amelioration, 
but always returns for yonr attempted improvement, 
sickly and dying trees, pointing at you from every direc- 
tion their weird and skeleton limbs, as if in derision 
and mockery at your efforts, had better be left alone in 
its wildness, or no attemjDts made to reform it. 

The proper way, we have always thought, to make a 
country place, wdiere there are no trees already existing, 
is, as we have already described as in Mr. Hunnewell's 
case, to dig an irregular border all round the boundary, 
or at least on those sides exposed to public roads or dis- 
agreeable objects, and to plant this with a judicious 
mixture of deciduous and evergreen trees of two or 
three feet high, either imported from Europe for a few 
dollars the hundred, or purchased from our own nurseries 
at wholesale prices. 

We do not mean by this to be understood as recom- 
mending one of those formal belts so much employed 
in the time of Brown, but a picturesque boundary, with 
bays and recesses, and projecting curves, occasionally 
employing the denser and more umbrageous trees where 
distant and unsightly objects are to be excluded ; and 
again the lowest growing shrubs to admit the landscape 
beyond the boundaries when it is desirable to do so. 
This border may, the first few years, be employed 
as a nursery for the purpose of receiving all the trees, 
shrubs and plants required for the future and entire 



448 LANDSCAPK GARDENING. 

plantiDg and embellishing of the place, and may be 
thinned out from year to year as the trees crowd each 
other, or may be wanted for progressive improvement 
and sei3arate planting, nntil as the place advances and 
the border becomes annually tliinned for this purpose 
it is at last reduced simply to such a number of plants, 
(which must be suffered to remain), as are required to 
produce the effects and objects above described. 

During the first year or so, the projDrietor may, at 
his leisure, study the planting of his place, without 
the loss of that time so precious to all good Americans, 
as his trees are already growing — not in their final 
place, but in his border nursery. To do this effectu- 
ally and properly he must employ a quantity of stakes 
or poles ten to twelve feet high, and by placing first 
a stake wliere he thinks a tree should be planted, 
and then several smaller stakes at such a distance 
around it as his books or his own knowledge may in- 
form him will be the extension of the tree when full 
grown. By carefully observing this collection of stakes 
from his point of view, wliich, as a general rule should 
be the principal room of the house, he will at once sec 
whether it is in the right place, whether it is too near 
the road or walk, or w^ill injure a view. When satisfied 
by many observations — and it Avould be well if made 
from many points of view, all, however, subservient to 
tke principal point — that the centre stake is correctly 
placed, let liim substitute for it a small stake eight or 
ten inclies high, with the name of the tree to be planted 
there legibly written on it. In the Autumn or Spring, 
whichever may be the proper time for transplanting — 
let the hole be dug at leisure, properly and care- 
fully prepared, and let a tree be selected from the 
border nursery on a damp or rainy day, and as properly 
and carefully planted. Pursue this course with all the 
single trees, groups, and masses to be planted on the 
grounds, and if judiciously done the most complete 



HOW TO MAKE A COUNTEY PLACE. 449 

satisfaction will be tJie result; because one may not 
only make up their own mind by studying their groups 
of poles, for weeks or months, even, but they can also 
have the advantage of criticism from intelligent visitors, 
and if the poles are wrong it is much easier to remove 
them than the trees. 

If it were our object to make the most thorough place 
with the greatest expedition and fewest mistakes, we 
should plant every group, mass, and single specimen in 
poles, and allow them to remain when the trees were 
both in and out of leaf, in order to be quite certain 
that the planting worked equally well in all seasons, 
and also to study and be quite sure we Avere right in 
the harmony and selection we made of varieties for 
forming groups and masses. 

Although the process may seem slow and tedious to 
new beginners, yet we are quite sure a place thus 
treated will, at the end of four or hve years, be far more 
advanced and much more judiciously and successfully 
planted than by the more ordinary and hasty method. 
In the first place, there will be no mistakes— no un- 
doing — on the contrary, the planting of the place is the 
making of the border : and in the second place, the trees 
will be better specimens, because we may at our leisure 
select from our border the best plants, and have them 
much better planted, inasmuch as when the spot for the 
tree is selected, the hole may be dug months, if neces- 
sary, before used — which, for spring planting, is most 
advantageous, by submitting the soil to the action of the 
frost. Whereas in the usual method, we go to a nursery 
and order a certain quantity of plants, and when they 
arrive, possibly on a disagreeable, windy day, we set 
about in the greatest hurry to dig holes and plant our 
trees, without in the least knowing the effects they are 
to make or mar when fully grown. 

It is this careless method which produces so much 
bad planting and ruins so many country places. How 
29 



450 



LAXl)SCArK GAKDENIXG. 



rarely do we see trees planted at sufficient distance 
from each other, or from roads, or walks, or houses. One 
plants a pine or Norway spruce three or four feet high 
at about the same distance from the margin of a road. 
There are many approaches that we know of bordered 
by pines and Norway spruces, with the trees five or six 
feet only from the border. When these trees get a few 
years older they must be removed or trimmed up, and 
if a pine only ten or twelve years old is to be trimmed 
up sufficiently high to admit the passage of carriages 
under it, it is very easy to see how little beauty is left. 
If in planting avenues one would first plant stakes, 
they would soon discover, that to employ pines, firs, 
beeches, or, in fact, any tree proper for this purpose, 
the trees should be set back at least twenty-five to forty 
feet from the margin, so as to be in proper position 
when fully grown. In order to prevent the meagre 
appearance of clumps or masses, or avenues properly 
planted for future results, there is no objection to closer 
planting for immediate effect, care being taken that 
the latter is cut down or removed from year to year, 
before they crowd or injure the permanent trees. In this 
way wirli judgment and taste, a place may have the 
appearance of finish within a year or two ; the present 
group and mass producing similar efl'ects except less 
light and shade, and covering the same ground as will 
be produced in twenty or tliirty years by the two or 
three permanent trees, which, by that time are all that 
will be permitted to remain. 

By this method of planting, which we recommend, 
we have an opportunity which is impossible in the ordi- 
nary way, of studying the character and habits of the 
trees, which, later in the season, we jjropose to substi- 
tute for our poles — to learn how they group, how they 
harmonize in habit, color, or growth, and we are thus 
enabled to produce some of those charming artistic 
effects by skillful combinations of color and habit, which 



now TO MAJvE A COUNTRY PLACE. 451 

baiiire so pleasingly exhibits in her own planting. Yery 
few attempts, to our knowledge, have as yet been made, 
in this country, in what is called "artistic planting," that 
is, where reference is had to those effects attained 
by combination of certain colors ; for instance, in order 
to increase the effect of a vista or opening, by plant- 
ing the darker foliage nearest the eye, and the lighter 
at the more distant point of view, or by planting two 
trees in the same hole in order to produce picturesque 
effects in contrast to the more formal or gardenesque 
plantir,g on the place. We remember to have seen at 
Ouchy, on the Lake of Geneva, that most graceful tree, 
the Weeping Silver birch, planted in the same hole with 
a pretty, drooping, fragile, dark-looking cedar ; and the 
two (some twenty-five years old) had grown up to- 
gether like two loving sisters, and their dark and sil- 
very foliage and graceful arms gently entwined together, 
seemed to cling fondly to each other for support- -the 
Minna and Brenda of the woods. 

A selection and blending of trees with reference to 
their autumnal colors, is another refinement yet little 
practiced in this country. A group, for example, of 
our ash, the different maples, the liquid-amber, the sour 
gum, the dogwood, etc., judiciously toned down in color, 
from the darkest and richest to the lightest, will present 
a combination, which, for brilliancy and gorgeousness, 
would be hardly credible to those who had not witnessed 
the result. 

In connection with this subject, we have made use 
of some memoranda of a visit to a place in Italy, 
some years since, as illustrative of artistic planting, 
from which, notwithstanding the advantages of climate, 
it is very easy to see how very far we yet fall short in 
this sort of perfection. 

The place which we have most particularly in our 
mind, at present, is a bold promontory in the Lake of 
Como, called Bellagio, belonging to the Duchess of 



452 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING. 

Bologna, having a position not very unlike tliat of "West 
Point on the Hudson — supposing that the river forked 
there, one arm running on each side. Yon stand on this 
promontory and look down one lake twenty miles to Conio ; 
and this view is similar, though liner, from the momi- 
tains being higher and more delicate, to the view down 
the North Kiver, from Kosciusko's monument ; and then 
on the other side, you look as it might be upon a portion 
of the river running between Crow-lSTest and West 
Point dock, some twenty miles also down the lake to 
Lecco ; you then look up, as if to ISTewburgh, and see, 
at about this distance (nine miles) the Alps, in snow- 
clad majesty. The whole promontory does not, we be- 
lieve, exceed five acres, rising conically perhaps six 
hundred feet from the water ; but the walks, which are 
graveled or paved with very small pebbles, are three 
or four miles in extent, most admirably managed by 
means of dense plantations, tunnels, and bridges. The 
promontory from the lake seems heavily wooded ; and 
yet everything has been done by art. The deep shade 
has been produced by the most charming undergrowth 
of cypress, laurel, casuaria, myrtle, and English 3'ews. 

You enter through a cavern into a glen, quite spectral 
in its midnight darkness, surrounded by immense Italian 
pines, and an undergrowth of yew ; you are then let 
out, as it were, into daylight, and into a charming peep 
of one of the lakes, by the most delicate gradations of 
dai'Tt to Iight,'^rst going through not only the colors but 
also the changes of form of the following trees : Cedars 
of Lebanon, Pinus excelsa, deodars, and weeping larches, 
v\-liich actually wave and dance you out into the sun- 
light. 

After these trees, you shortly commence in the midst 
of a blazing sun, among the most feathery and delicate 
of the acacias, and grow cooler and darker with the 
coarser varieties, and the rose acacia, all enchantingly 
entangled with the Chinese wistaria, M'hich here flowers 



454 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING. 

looking up the third lake, and to the snowy Alps, and 
down a perpendicular precipice of some six hundred 
feet into an exquisite flower garden below, into which, 
you are prevented from falling, by a parapet interlaced 
with every variety of honeysuckle and clematis. 

The other walk from the cavern led along a similar 
wall of rock, pierced with holes, having an occasional 
frame of rustic work, covered with air plants (orchids) 
and parasites." This led by a grand terrace, balustraded 
and statued, and commanding the three lakes to the 
palace. 

We have attempted to give our recollection of this 
wonderful spot ; not that we expect it to be a model 
for anything yet to be done in America, but because it 
is the only place we remember to have seen in any part 
of the "world which we have visited where a great 
work of art has been produced in a very considerable 
degree by the forms and colors of trees. The dim and 
sombre eiFects of the caverns and tunnels have been 
raarvelously extended and increased by the deep, dark, 
purple colors selected for this purpose, while the gay, 
graceful, sparkling spray and glitter of tlie fairy-like 
acacias, are so blended and interwoven with the sun- 
shine that one cannot but feel, how much even nature, 
grand as she always is, can some times be aided by 
man. There are many bold and prominent bluffs and 
promontories in this country on our beautiful and -pictur- 
esque rivers and majestic lakes where much of the ar- 
tistic beauty of Bellagio can be accomplished by judi- 
cious and tasteful planting, and although we have not a 
climate which admits hedges of oleander and myrtle, at 
least at the North, yet when we know the colors, forms 
and habits of many trees which have as yet never 
been employed in ornamental landscape, we shall be 
surprised to find how much material we have for pro- 
ducino; the most remarkable and the most pleasing 
results. 



NEWER DECroUOUS TREES AND SHRUBS. 455 



SECTION III. 

THE NEWER DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES AND SHRUBS. 

We do not intend in this section to occupy the atten- 
tion of the I'eader by any preliminary remarks as to the 
ornamental or practical value of any of the varieties 
"we shall describe. Mr. Downing has already, to a 
great extent, done this in the preceding portion of the 
book. It remains for us simply to introduce to planters 
such new scions and connections of their older friends 
■ — the results, sometimes of inter-marriage between the 
ancient families, producing hybrids and. crosses — and 
sometimes from the new discoveries of trees, which the 
increased intercourse all over the world has enabled 
collectors and societies to make. "With this introduction 
we shall j)i'oceed at once to describe those trees and 
plants omitted in th« previous edition and which our 
observation has induced us to believe are well worthy 
the attention of amateurs. 

Acer. The Maple. 

A. Campestre, erroneously campesb-is of the Catalogues (ilie 
Common or English Field maple). — This is a beautiful, coTi- 
pact, round-headed tree, or rather bush, rarely exceeding twenty 
or twenty-five feet in height, and, if allowed to assume its natural 
shape, quite as broad as it is high. This tree, which is one of 
the most ornamental of the maples, is very rarely to be met 
with, though common, we believe, in our best nurseries. It is 
a tree, above all others of its kind, suited to small lawns, where 
it should stand alone, or on the outside of loose gardenesque 
groups, where it is accessible on all sides ; since the character 



4-">G LANDSCAPK GARDEKING. 

of its growth is so regular and formal (in shape of a bee-hive), 
that it does not harmonize with wild or picturesque plantations, 
but is peculiarly adapted to the neighborhood of the house or 
to the more formal trees, like the horse-chestnut and linden* 
Tlie finest specimen we recollect to have seen, is at the late 
Mr. Downing's, which is neai'ly fully grown ; a specimen at 
Wodenethe, about fifteen feet high, and nearly as wide, is ex- 
tremely beautiful. The largest specimens in England are at 
Kew, fifty years planted, twenty-six feet high ; at Milbury 
Park, one hundred years planted, thirty-eight feet high. It 
should never be trimmed up ; on the contrary, if by accident 
the lower limbs are injured or lost, the tree should be severely 
headed back to encourage new growth from the ground. 

A. c. foHis variegatis (the Variegated maple). — A variety of 
A. campcslre — very much of its character and habit, though 
perhaps a little looser. This tree is extremely pretty and ef- 
fective up to mid-summer, especially when placed on the bounda- 
ries of plantations, as it catches the light well ; after July, it is 
apt to burn and get shabby during the dry weather. There is 
another Striped or Blotched-leaved maple, which is a variety 
of the A. fseudo 'platanus, which is still larger and less compact 
than the preceding, and equally worthy of being plawted by 
those who fancy variegated-leaved trees. 

A. macrophylliun (the Large-leaved maple). — This superb 
tree, a mere mention of which appears- in a note to the previous 
edition of this work, was introduced into England in 1812, and 
has only within a very few years made its appearance in this 
country, and we have, of course, no specimens of any size. It 
is described in its native state as varying in height from forty to 
ninety feet, very graceful in form, with branches widely spread- 
ing, the wood soft, but beautifully veined ; specimens sent home 
by Mr. Douglas, exhibit a grain scarcely inferior to the finest 
satin wood. Tliough the leaves vary much in size, yet they 
are by far llie largest of the maples ; this, with its hardihood 
and great size and loftiness, renders it one of the noblest of its 
kind, and it should invariably be planted where there is suffi- 
cient space for its development. 

A. Monspessulanum (the Montpelier maple). — This is another 
of the newer maples but lately introduced here; though of 



NEWER DECroUOUS TREES AND SHRUBS. 457 

f-mall liiibit of growth, yet it is very ornamental, the leaves 
resembling soraevvhat in size and color those of ^-i. campestre : 
the flowers are pale, and are very attractive to bees. In mild 
seasons, in Europe, the leaves remain on the tree until mid- 
winter, and on this account it is much planted in France for 
hedges. It rarely attains a greater height than thirty to forty 
feet, and is readily propagated by seeds or by layers. 

A. p laciniata (Cut-leaved or eagle's claw). — Avery curious 
low growing tree, with the lobes of its leaves jagged and some- 
what resembling, as its name implies, the foot or claw of an 
eagle. It is one of the varieties of A. psetido-plutanus, and 
comes in well with the cut-leaved ash, beech, and other trees 
with this peculiar foliage. 

A. 2^' fo^i's purpuras (the Purple-leaved maple). — Another 
sport or variety of A. pseudo-platanus, very peculiar and striking 
when tlie wind blows, the leaves having a fine purple under- 
neath, and being ruffled by the breeze, presenting a curious 
blending of purple and pale green ; the foot-stalks to the leaves 
are quite distinctly pink. This tree is commonly known in the 
nurseries as the Pui-ple Jersey maple, it having originated in a 
nursery in that island in 1828. Plants raised from seed sport 
so much in color that sometimes they become quite green. On 
this account, specimens for planting should be selected from 
the nursery rows while in leaf. 

A. p. Turtaiica (Tartarian maple); A. Grctlcum (Cretan 
Maple), Hodgkins' Seedling, with yellow blotched leaves ; A. 
punctata, with spotted leaves, and several others, are only sports 
or varieties of A. pseiido-jdutanus, and have not yet, to our 
knowledge, been planted in the United States. 



±Escuhis hippocastainun. The Horse-chestnut. 

JE. h. Flore plena (Double-flowering horse-chestnut). — A 
beautiful variety of ^. hippccasfauvm, resembling it in character 
and foliage, but with the flowers double and very full, not unlike 
at a distance, a gigantic hyacinth. The tree seems perfectly 
hardy, and has the additional advantage of flowering when very 
young. 



458 LANDSCAPE GAKDENrNG. 

y¥] h. coccinea (Scarlet-flowering horse-chestnut). — This dif- 
fers from the Rubicunda simply in color of its flower, being a 
deep scarlet. It is very hardy, flowers early, and is, perhaps, 
the most striking floral tree of the season. The specimen we 
have, about ten feet high, is the only one we have seen in this 
country, but we hardly know an ornamental tree more deserv- 
ing of notice. 

/^ . //. variegata (the Variegated horse-chestnut). — This is 
simply a variety with blotched leaves ; in fact, there are two, one 
mottled with white, the other with yellow ; whence, the distinction 
of gold and silver-leaved. We do not regard either of them as 
particularly handsome, having more the appearance of disease 
than a regular blotch ; and we consequently would only recom- 
mend them for arboretums, or where one has a fancy for varie- 
gated trees. 

^. h. laciniata (Cut-leaved horse-chestnut). — A very distinc- 
tive variety, with deeply cut leaves ; in certain conditions of 
growth, the leaves have simply the appearance of threads. This 
is by far the most curious and interesting of all the cut-leaved 
trees, and we consider it very desirable even in small col- 
lections. It is perfectly hardy, and should be planted by it- 
self. It is still very rare. 

^. h. Whilleyi. — Whitley's New Scarlet is a variety of Rubi- 
cunda, as are also ^. Amei-iccDia, and u3^. fol. avrca (Golden- 
leaved horse-chestnut). They can be had at our nurseries, 
and are well worthy the attention of planters. 

The Pavias are simply varieties of the horse-chestnut, with 
smooth fruit and leaves, and generally of lower growth, most of 
them are deserving of notice and one of them, Pavia macro- 
stachya (the Dwarf white-flowering horse-chestnut), is rather 
a shrub than tree ; but we hardly know anything more valuabe 
in the month of July, when covered with its long spikes or 
flowers, which are agreeably odoriferous. 

Its habit of growth is peculiar, stoling from the root, and 
when standing alone, as it invariably should, making a magnifi- 
cent bush, much wider than it is high. It is a native, we be- 
lieve, of North America, growing most abundantly near St. 
Augustine in Florida, and was only introduced into England in 
1820, the largest plants being at "White Knights," twenty- 




Fig. 92.— Scampston Weeping Elm, at Wodenetli 
Age, 6 yrs. Height, 7 ft. Ciroum., 86 ft. 




-NS**'^ -> '^■~ - 



Fio. 91.— Dwarf Horse-Ciiestnut, at WodenetUe. 
Age, 12 yrs. Height, 8 ft. Cir., CO ft. 



NEWER DECIDUOUS TREES AND SHRUBS. 459 

five years planted, fifteen feet high. At Syon House, near 
London, there is a specimen, twelve feet. In this country, as 
yet, it is rarely to be met with in our ornamental places, 
which is the more remarkable as we do not know a shrub 
whicli should be planted before it. It comes into bloom a 
month or six weeks later than the other horse-chestnuts, and at 
a period, too, when very few shrubs are in flower, and continues 
a long time. Our best plant at Wodenethe — of which Fig. 91 
is a sketch — twelve years old, is sixty feet in circumference 
and about eight feet high, and has, at the time we write, between 
three and four hundred racemes of flowers, the feathery lightness 
of which, and the fine umbrageous character of the leaves ren- 
der it a most striking and attractive object. 

Pavia rubra (Red-flowering), — which is merely mentioned 
by Mr. Downing, and which is now better known, is a shrubby 
tree, seldom exceeding twenty feet, with reddish flowers suffi- 
ciently distinct to make it desirable — though Pavia humilis 
pendula (the Weeping red j^avia), is even more desirable and at- 
tractive. Mr. Loudon considers this one of the most beautiful 
and interesting forms of Pavia, and recommends horse-chestnuts 
of twenty to thirty years' growth to be grafted all over with it 
at the points of the shoots ; care being taken afterwards, once 
or twice every year, to rub off" all the buds from the stock as 
soon as they appear, so that the entire force of the plant may 
be directed to the nourishment of the scions. 

Pavia carnea pubescens (Downy leaf), from the fact of the 
whole plant, including the young wood, being covered with 
pubescence. 

P. purpurea (Purple) ; P. rubra atrosanguinea (Dark red) ; 
and P. carnea superba (Pale red), are all new varieties to be 
obtained in this country, and of greater or less merit. 



Alnus. The Alder. 

The principle additions to this genus, since the previous 
edition of this work, have been A. cordifolia, (Heart-shaped), 
a tree of some magnitude, a native of Calabria, with 
large, deep green, shining- leaves, rather broad and deeply 



400 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

lieart-sliaped, growing rapidly, and, we believe, perfectly 
ha].(]y — at least, we have found it so at this place — and A. 
qiurcifuUa (the Oak-leaved alder) ; although Mr. Downing 
places little value on the A. glauca (our common Swamp- 
alder), yet we must confess, we hardly know a more charming 
plant in the winter, when covered vvitli its bright scarlet ber- 
ries, especially when placed against hemlocks or other ever- 
greens ; and we are quite confident, that planted in this manner 
it only needs to be seen to be more generally employed. 



Betula. Birch. 

The only new varieties lately introduced of the birch are : 

B. daurica (the Daurian birch), from Asiatic Siberia, which 
is supposed to be only a variety of B. alba, not growing as tall 
as the common birch, nor does the trunk attain the same size, 
though the wood is both harder and yellower. 

Betula laciniuta (the Cut-leaf birch), as known in our nur- 
series ; an exceedingly graceful, pretty tree, with a light, 
airy growth, inferior, however, to a still newer variety B. 
hciniafa pcndula (Pendulous cut-leaf), which is quite the pret- 
tiest and most feathery of the birches. 

B. nana and B. pumila (the Dwarf and low growing birch). 
These two are merely shrubs, both natives of the northern 
portions of America, and the latter found in Sweden, Norway, 
and Russia ; and growing only two or three feet high, merely 
valuable as carrying out the cla-s in arborettmis. 



Castanea. Chestnut. 

The principle additions to this genus, since the first edition 
are : Castanea asplenifolia (Cut-leaf chestnut), a very remarka- 
ble and peculiar variety, with its leaves in shreds ; and O. 
varlegala, foliis-aureis, and fuHis-argenleis, (the Golden- 
leaved and the Silver-leaved chestnuts), both very striking 
and showy, especially when planted against or near ever- 
greens, the golden variety being particularly gay. Small 
plants of this tree have, at Wodenethe, blossomed when 



NEWEK DECIDUOUS TREES AND SHRUBS. 461 

only two feet high, but whether this is the habit of this variety, 
or accidental, we are not prepared to say. 

We have also here (received some years ago from Mr. Rivers, 
we think), a dwarf variety, called Dwarf prolific, which has 
the merit of fruiting when a small shrub. 



Cercis. Judas Tree. 

The only addition to this variety, which has appeared 
within the past few years, is Cercis foUis-variegatis (the Varie- 
gated-leaved Judas) ; the leaves blotched and streaked with 
white, and sometimes pink and white splashes ; desirable, but 
at present very rare. We procured our plants, we believe, 
from France. 



Fagus. Beech. 

There are several varieties of this tree, which have been in- 
troduced into cultivation within the last few years, well de- 
serving of notice, and some of them very curious and intei-est- 
ing ; among these is, Fagus laciniata, called alsoi^. asplenifolia 
and F. incim, and known in the nursuries as Cut-leaved, Fern- 
leaved and Various-leaved beech. We have all these plants 
under the different names, but, except the occasional sport, 
which the beech is peculiarly liable to, we believe them to be 
identical ; sometimes resembling a fern, which is the most usual, 
and others again with leaves very oddly cut and shredded, 
as it were, by insects. The P'ern-leaved beech, commonly so- 
called, is a great favorite with us, and we hardly know a pret- 
tier or more attractive tree, or one less known or planted ; if 
we could plant but half a dozen trees this would certaiidy be 
one of the first. It has the close round habit of the beech witli 
a pleasing green and glaucous color, and the most tiny and deli- 
cate foliage, the persistency of which would make it very 
desirable for topiary -work, as it bears the shears better than any 
deciduous tree Ave know of. Its maximum height is forty to 
fifty feet, but we have seen no specimen in this country over 
twelve to fifteen feet ; its average annual growth being twelve 
to fifteen inches. 



462 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Fagus cridnia (Crested or Curled-leaved beech), is more 
curious than interesting, and is what Mr. Loudon called a 
•'monstrosity," with leares small, almost sessile, and crowded 
into small tufts which occur at intervals along the branches ; it 
never becomes a large tree. 

FiigusfoUii variegatis (Variegated-leaved beech). — There are 
two varieties of this, the Golden and Silver ; the latter being the 
most striking. 

There is also another most charming variety — F. Cunuing- 
hamia (the Evergreen beech), with leaves curiousl}' small, but 
which does not stand our climate in this vicinity, but, which in 
the Southern States, we have little doubt, would be quite an ac- 
quisition to the Evergreen trees. In connection with the beech 
we would also mention three new varieties of Carpimis (Horn- 
beam), C. pendida, a pi'etty weeping tree, and the Golden and 
Silver-leaved varieties, resembling very much, though inferior 
to these same varieties in the beech. 



Fraxinus. Asii. 

There are five or six varieties of this tree, not mentioned by 
Mr. Downing, that are well deserving attention; the moststrildng 
and rarest, perhaps, is F. uucuhafolia (the Aucuba-leaved ash). 
The leaves blotched witli 3'ellow, like that well-known English 
shrub, the Aucnha Jnponica, and to such an extent that at a little 
distance, a tree of some age has the appearance of this plant of 
extraordinary size ; on the edges of plantations it catches the 
light so well that it works up to great advantage, and has so 
strong a resemblance to a tree in flower that it is constantly 
talien for one. The tree is yet very rare, a plant we obtained 
a year or two since from Messrs. EUwanger and Barry is the 
only specimen we have seen. 

F. aurea (Golden ash), and F. aurea 2^1'ndtila (Weeping 
Golden ash), are both very desirable varieties ; the color of the 
wood of a rich golden yellow, being very striking in winter 
when contrasted with the snow, quite as marked as the Golden 
willow ; on this account it would be well to plant it in sight 
from the windows of the house. The latter tree is, with us. 



NEWER DECIDUOTTS TTIEES AND SHRUBS. 403 

quite as liardy as and a great improvement upon the old Weep- 
ing ash. 

F. salicifoUa (Willow-leaved ash). — This is another of those 
remarkable thin cut-leaved trees, of which we have specimens in 
the beech, horse-chestnut and even the oak. This is a most 
rapid and robust grower, and would, undoubtedly, be taken foi 
a willow, by persons not very familiar with trees — and though 
not particularly handsome, still it is well deserving a place in 
all collections, where striking and curious plants are desired. 

F. ghhosa viridis or myrii folia (Myrtle-leaved ash). — A seed- 
ling, if we mistake not, of Messrs. Elhvanger and Barry, from 
whom we procured the plant some years ago ; is when grafted 
standard high, a very pretty effective little tree, with a globular 
head of small close, dark green foliage like the myrtle, and 
comes in very well, standing by itself in small pleasure grounds, 
or peeping out of low masses of shrubs. 

F. argentea alha. — A very singular variety, with leaves 
entirely white, and when planted with the aucubafdia, the 
loaves of which are quite golden, producing a remarkable effect, 
like gigantic flowering plants. We do not know the history of 
this singular tree, and have only seen it at Mr. Daniel Brincker- 
hoff 's, in this neighborhood, who has the impression he procured 
it some years since, from Mr. Rivers of the Sawbridgeworth 
nurseries in England. It differs from the varieties known in 
the English nurseries as F. argentea, from the peculiar 
whiteness of its foliage ; the argentea being generally streaked 
with green, though it may be a sport of this tree. It is apt to 
suffer very much in June from the insects which, apparently 
attracted by the white foliage at night, greedily devour the 
leaves, though all the other ashes standing by escape un- 
touched. 

F. lentiscr folia and F. leniiscfolia pendula, are both desira- 
ble trees, with neat, narrow foliage, and rapid growth. The 
Pendulous-branched we have found the most rapid of the ashes. 
The Weeping black and Gold-striped weeping, both pretty ; F. 
atro-vinns, remarkable for its dark foliage ; F. bosci, with dark 
glossy foliage, and woolly shoots ; F. juglandi/olia (Walnut- 
leaved) ; F. monophijlli, single, instead of pinnate leaves ; F. 



464 ' LANDSCAPE GAKDEXING. 

elonga Japonica pannosa, Nova Anglica, oxyphillas and scolo' 
pendrifoUum, are all new varieties, for arboretums or very 
full collections. 



Magnolia. 

There are several newly introduced varieties of this beauti- 
ful tree which deserve attention : among them may be men- 
tioned, M. Thompsoniana, a fine distinct variety, probably a 
cross between glauca and tnpetala, quite as liardy with us as 
either parent. 

M. speciosa, M. gracilis, M. Alexandrina and M. Nort- 
hertiana. — These four varieties so closely resemble M. Soulan- 
giana, that we think they can be only seedlings, diifering a 
little in the mingling of the white and purple, whicli is the color 
of their liowers. 

M. Nortbertinna, being wliiter in its flowers, may probably be 
a seedling or variety of M. conspiciui ; 31. gracilis is unques- 
tionably only a more slender delicate variety of Ji! j9»;7)?(rea, 
having mucli darker flowers, especially when half expanded ; 
M. Alexandrina flowers eai'lier than its parent. 

Another desirable variety is M. longifolia. which is often con- 
founded with and sold for M. Thompsoniana, and is intermediate 
in appearance between 3f. tripetala and M. gliuca ; the leaves 
are acute at both ends, longer than Thompsoaimvt, and resem- 
bling tripetala, but thicker, smaller, and glaucous underneath ; 
the flowers are very sweet but not as large as M. Thomp- 
soniana. 

3f. galisHonierc. — A plant of which we imported from France 
two years since, is said to be the only variety of the 31. grandi 
flora which will stand our climate, and as it resists the cold of 
the north of France, it is not impossible it may be acclimatized 
here. We do not know that it has been sufficiently tested at 
present to be able to class it among our hardy magnolias. 



NEWEK DECmUOUFl TKEES AND SHEUBS. 465 

Quercus. Oak. 

"We have but few additions to make to this genus, and these 
rather of the fancy order. 

Q. laciniata (Cut-leaf oak), known also as Q. salicifolia and 
Q. jilicifuUa, is a curious variety, with leaves deeply cut at the 
edges and laciniated. 

Q. foliis variegatis (Variegated oak), both gold and silver, 
with leaves variegated with white or yellow and occasional 
streaks of red; well grown, quite showy and ornamental. 

Q. purpurea (Purple oak), has the foot-stalks of the leaves 
and its young shoots quite distinctly tinged with purple — even 
the young leaves, when they first appear, are very dark, as 
much so as the Purple beech, and, like this tree, becoming 
greener as the season advances. 

But of all the newer varieties recently introduced here, the 
Q. penduJa (Weeping oak), is the most distinctive and remark- 
able. We have as yet, we believe, no trees of any size in the 
country. The largest tree known is at Moccas court, in Here- 
fordshire, England, which Mr. Loudon (Arbo : Brit. vol. 3, 
page 1732), describes as one of the most extraordinary trees 
of the oak kind in existence ; the height of the trunk to the first 
branch is eighteen feet, total height of the trunk seventy-five feet, 
with branches reaching from about the middle of its height to 
within seven feet of the ground, and hanging down like cords ; 
many of these branches are thirty feet long and no thicker in 
any part of their length than a common wagon rope. There is 
another variety of Weeping oak to be found in our nurseries, 
and which we have had here, but the inclination of the branches 
is more rigid and less pendulous and graceful than the Moccas 
oak, and we much doubt if we have ever had this species here. 
To persons curious in trees, or who are desirous of making 
plantations of the many dwarfs at present quite the fashion in 
England, we would suggest here two varieties of oak interest- 
ing for this purpose ; viz., Quercus Immilis (the low growing 
oak), a native of Europe, where it never exceeds a height of 
three to four feet, and in the Landes near Bordeaux, not over 
one foot; and Q. pumila (an American dwarf), which seldom 
exceeds twenty inches. 
30 



466 LAKOSCAl'E GARDENING. 



Salix. Willow. 

There are three or four charming varieties to add to this 
well known genus. Among them the newest, and perhaps the 
most remarkable, is the Kilmarnock Weeping, quite distinctive, 
with a very pendulous but close habit of growth, so much so, 
that the branches, at least in young trees, are quite hid out by 
the large glossy leaves, which, at a little distance, are not un- 
like the apple leaf. It seems perfectly hardy, and, with the 
oii«' next mentioned, may be very appropriately planted in 
pleasure grounds, where the other and larger willows would be 
out of keeping. 

S. Americana pendula, an American dwarf variety, Avith 
very slender and graceful branches, or rather shoots, which 
when grafted six or seven feet high, hang down like wliip- 
cdrd ; this variety, we think, was first noticed by the late Mr. 
Downing in Rivers' nursery, and very prettily desci-ihed by 
him as the Fountain willow, which is a much more expressive 
and appropriate name than the one it now goes by in the nur- 
series. It should always be grafted on what is called the Stock 
willow ; if upon its own roots or worked even on itself, standard 
high, it becomes nothing but an awkward distorted shrub. 

S. rosmarifolia (the Rosemary-leaved willow) — Is another 
exceedingly pretty little lawn tree, with delicate rosemary- 
like leaves ; this should also be worked standard high. 

The Huntington willow, Avith large, beautiful, shining leaves, 
and a vai iety we imported from France a year or so ago, 
called *S'. pentandra, described there (though it has not yet 
realized its reputation with us), as a beautiful tree, with leaves 
like the laurel, are all the newer varieties proper for orna- 
mental planting. 



Sophora. The Sophora. 

Lin. Syst. Decandria, Monogyiiia. 

This genus, the only hardy variety of which is deciduous, 
is a native of Japan, and is highly ornamental. There is not, 
to our knowledge, any large tree of it in this country, and from 
this fact, perhaps, and from its great rarity, it was classed by 



NEWEK DECroUOUS TREES AND SHKUBS. 467 

Mr. Downing among the shrubs. It is in reality a large tree 
when grown, forty to fifty feet high, with pinnate leaves, and 
producing large branches of cream colored flowers in August. 
It is quite distinctive in winter, by the dark green bark of its 
young wood ; and in summer by the dark blue green of its 
foliage. Near Paris there ai'e some trees sixty feet high. It 
grows rapidly and is peculiarly adapted to the United States 
from one remarkable property of its foliage, which is the power 
it has to retain both its leaves and their color in the very hot- 
test and di'iest seasons, when locusts and acacias and other 
pinnated-leaved leguminacem are apt to lose their foliage. 

The flowers, it is said, in China make yellow dye of so super- 
ior a color, that it is reserved exclusively for the use of the 
Imperial family. 

S. pendula (Pendulous or Weeping sophora), is more com- 
monly met with, perhaps, than the upright sophora, though 
even this variety is very rare. It has long pendulous shoots ; 
grafted near the ground it becomes a mere straggling plant, 
but, ten to twenty feet high, we hardly know anything more 
ornamental or striking ; even in winter, the long slender 
branches of beautiful bright green render it most attractive. 

There is a third variety, variegata, but the color of the leaf 
is sickly, and we do not consider it desirable, except for arbore- 
tums. 



Pyrus. Mountain Ash. 

A very pretty and marked addition to the varieties hereto- 
fore known, and described is Pyrus pendula ("Weeping moun- 
tain ash), with extremely pendulous branches bending quite to 
the ground, and then rambling along it if not stopped ; a most 
rapid grower, more so, we think, than the common mountain 
ash, and a very great bloomer. 

P. nana (Dwarf mountain ash). — This is a very stunted 
variety of slow, close growth, but quite remarkable for the 
luxuriant corymbs of coral berries in the Autumn. 

P. quercifolia, a distinct variety with large, hoary, oak leaves ; 
P. striata (Striped-leaved), P. vestifa (White-leaved), the 
}Oung shoots and the under part of the leaves being as clearly 



468 LANDSCAPE GAKDEXmG 

white as the Silver poplar. The Yellow-berried, the Large- 
fruited gray, the Large-fruited red, and the Large-fruited rose, 
are all deserving notice whei-e there is ample space for planting. 



Tilia. Lime or Linden. 

The only varieties of value to add to those previously enu- 
merated in this book, are T. laciniata (Cut or Jagged-leaf lin- 
den), with the leaves curiously cut ; and T. j^eiidula alba 
("Weeping White linden), of a very pendulous habit, and the 
under part of the leaf very silvery. We esteem this one of 
the most, if not the most ornamental of the lindens. 



Vlmus. Elm. 

There are a good many new elms lately introduced, which 
are quite remarkable in their habit, and distinctive in appear- 
ance ; among them are two Scotch varieties of weeping elms, 
the Scampaton {of which. Fig. 92 is a portrait), and Cawperdown, 
both somewhat allied in appearance, though the first is the most 
remarkable, having fine large foliage, and the most extraor- 
dinary droop to the branches ; so much and so regular and 
formal is their inclination, tliat it is difficult to believe artificial 
means have not been resorted to. When grafted as it should 
be fifteen to twenty feet high, the branches make a curvilinear 
droop to the ground, with a growth so regular and symmetrical 
as to give the whole tree the appearance of a gigantic arbor ; 
re'Tularly trained and trimmed, and by making an arched open- 
inf^ on one side, it can be well used for this purpose, the thick 
umbrageous character of the leaves producing the most agree- 
able and dense shade. 

The only material difference between this tree and U. Cam- 
perdoion, is that this last is of a more open, loose foliage, and 
rather less regular in the droop of the branches. They are 
both, however, very fine trees and well worthy the most pro- 
minent positions in the lawn — care being taken that they shall 
have ample space for their development. 



THE NEWER ORNAMENTAL DECIDUOUS SHRUBS. 469 

U. glabra pendula is another fine variety of "Weeping elm, 
but far inferior, we think, to the two above mentioned. 

U. montana pendula, and U. riigosa pendula, (the Scotch 
weeping), and (Rough-leaved weeping), are also very desirable 
Weeping elms. 

The Huntington elm is a rapid growing variety, with a 
fine large leaf. 

The U. articofolia, (Nettle-leaved) ; U. variegata, (the 
Variegated) ; and U. purpurea, (the Purple), are all curious and 
desirable in large places ; as is also U. adianthafolia, a strong 
rugged variety with corrugated and crimped leaves very 
peculiar. 



THE NEWER ORNAMENTAL DECIDUOUS SHRUBS. 

Before enumerating the many new and beautiful 
shrubs which have been introduced into our gardens 
and pleasure grounds within ten years, we wish to 
say a few words respecting their employment. 

"We have before remarked, in anotlier place, that the 
facilities aflbrded by railroads and steamboats are now 
so great, that there is a class, and a large one, of small 
suburban places and villa residences in the neighbor- 
hood of our large cities and rural towns, to which this 
kind of plant is especially valuable. In residences of a 
few hundred feet square to an acre or more, shrubs are 
much more valuable than trees, as the latter, when 
fully matured, become so large and cumbersome as to 
interfere very much with a free circulation of air, and 
often completely shut out all view, and are apt to make 
the places themselves damp and dreary. There are 
many of these residences where trees should never be 
planted, but their place should be supplied by the finer 
shrubs, as the "Weigela, Forsythia, the Fly honeysuckle, 
the smaller Magnolias {glavca, piD-purca, gracilis, con- 
SjpiGua, soidangiana), the Purple berberry, the Purple 
filbert, the Yariegated syringo, the Dwarf horse-chest- 



470 LANDSCAPK GAKDKMAG. 

nut, the Fern-leaved beech, the Oak-leaved hydrangea, 
the Red-twigged dogwood, the Double Japan quince, 
the Deutzia gracilis, and the di£ferent hardy English 
and Belgic azaleas, among the deciduous shrubs. And 
among tlie evergreens, the English and Irish yews, the 
difi'erent Junipers, the different Arbor-vitoe, the Weep- 
ing cypress {Cupressus oMonga pendula), the eight or 
ten varieties of Dwarf iirs, the Thuiopsis borealis, 
a beautiful and hardy plant from Baffin's Bay ; the 
Hemlock, if kept clipped and bushy, the various Rho- 
dodendrons, especially the Catawhiensis j the Laurel- 
leaved holly {Ilex laurifolid)^ the American holly, and 
finally that most valuable of all shrubs, the Berberis 
mahonia. By a tasteful and judicious massing and 
grouping of the above plants, with occasionally a single 
specimen by itself alone, as the English yew, or Dwarf 
horse-chestnut, or Fern-leaf beech, a very pretty and 
ornamental effect may be produced, without shutting 
out the light of heaven, as is too often done by tall 
sparse trees, with long naked stems, producing no other 
sensation but a shudder at their ugliness. 

In submitting the annexed list of the newer shrubs, we 
regret our space will not allow us to do much more 
than to enumerate their names ; merely premising that 
the most desirable are those we have already just 
mentioned above. ' 

Arab'a Japomca, a new variety of A. spinosa (Hercules' 
chib), but much finer in foliage, and very highly esteemed in 
England ; hardy. 

A. pcqryripera (the Chinese Rice-paper plant). — "We have 
but recently imported this, and do not yet know its hardihood; 
it has superb leaves some three feet or more in diameter. 

Ceanotlius. — The ceanoihus, of which there are several varie- 
ties, are beautiful shrubs, with white or blue clusters of 
flowers. 

Cornus variegaia (the Variegated-leaved dogwood). — A very 



TIIK NKWER ORNAMENTAL DECIDUOUS SHKUBS. 471 

prettily striped leaf, and contrasting agreeably with the othei 
varieties. 
Daphne atro purpureum.—K very marked variety oUIezereum, 

with purplish leaves. 

Deutzia gracilis, and D. scahra.—Tyxo very desirable shrubs 
introduced some six or eight years ago ; the gracilis being 
perhaps, the most charming shrub at the period of its inflor- 
escence ; it has also the merit of bearing forcing well in a 
green-house, though perfectly hardy. 

Ilea an-olinia (the Carolina itea).— A charming little shrub 
which does best in the shade. 

Leijceslcria formosa (the beautiful leycesteria). 

Ligustrumjoliis aureis, an^ argenteis {ih^ Golden and Sil- 
ver striped privet).— Very pretty and desirable, mingled with 
the green privet. 

Forsythia viridissima.—The very green Forsythia is certam- 
ly one of the most desirable among the new shrubs ; its flowers, 
a bright yellow, appear xery early in the spring, succeeded by 
a dee°p, dense foliage which in winter is sub-evergreen, hanging 
on to the plant and retaining its color until long past Christmas. 
Like the magnolia, it appears to more advantage when planted 
against evergreens. 

Fersica vulgaris fore pleno alba (the Double white flowermg 
peach).— Beautiful, especially when planted by the Double 

pink. 

Bihes sanguineumjlorepleno, and F. speciosvm. —^olh beau- 
tiful varieties of the Flowering currant. The first a great im- 
provement on the old i?. sanguineum, and the last with long 
pendulous red flowers, like a fuschia. 

Savibucns fore 2^^^no, S. foliis aurels, S. fuliis argenteis— 
New and striking varieties of the Black or Common elder, as 
yet very rare. We have found them hardy and most luxuriant 
growers ; the Double-flowering is very striking, but the Silver 
and Gold-leaved are much more so. We presume they can 
now be procured at our nurseries, though we obtained ours 
from M. Leroy in France. 

Spir<2a callosa, S. Doughsii, S. Lindleyana, S. Nepalensis, 
S. pruni/olia, S. Beevsii, S. r. fore plena, are all the finest 



472 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

among the new Spireas ; exceedingly hardy and desirable, es- 
pecially i)ow/7Za5M', callosa, ar\d Double-flowering ^f^'esii. 

Syringa Josikcua, S. Charles A'., aS". Emodi, ai'e new addi- 
tions to the charming family of lilacs. 

Tamarix Africana, T. GalUca (the African and French tamar- 
Iks), are very pretty and desirable. 

Weigela rosea (the Rosy weigela) is perhaps, take it all in 
all, the greatest acquisition to our hardy shrubs within the past 
ten years. We hardly know a more lovely plant or more 
abundant bloomer ; the white and pink flowers resembling 
apple blossoms, almost cover the plant with a sheet of bloom. 



EVKEGKEEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 47J 



SECTION lY. 

REMAEKS ABOUT IIALF-HAKDY PLANTS AND THE NEWER 
EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES AND SHRUBS, WITH THE 
METHOD OF ACCLIMATIZING AND EMPLOYING THEM. 

Perhaps in no one way has the taste for planting 
more developed itself since the first appearance of 
Mr. Downing's book, especially during the past four 
or five years, than in the increasing predilection 
for evergreens, and prevailing desire not only to plant 
the better known and more common varieties, but also 
those of more recent introduction. 

Almost every one, even with the smallest place, now 
plants not only the Norway spruce, and the Austrian 
and Scotch pines, but is even desirous of trying his 
hand upon deodars, cryptomerias and other varieties, 
considered only as luxuries in Mr. Downing's day. 

The cost of many of these plants having been reduced 
from one or two guineas apiece, to fifteen or twenty 
cents, the ease with which they may be imported, at 
little risk, and the facility with which they live, at least 
for one or two years, to say nothing of the fashion for 
evergreens now-a-days, are certainly very strong temp- 
tations ; but the actual beauty, great variety and 
contrast in character, habit, and color, and the entire 
hardihood of a great many new sorts, and the vast 
addition made by this class of trees to a winter's land- 
scape, much more frequently seen now by owners of 
country places than when the first edition even of this 
work appeared, all combine to make it very desirable 
til at some authentic information should be given, which 



474 LANDSCAPE gardp:nixg. 

may be reliable as to what may and what may not be 
planted. 

We have individuals enough in this country who are 
willing to spend money liberally for trees if they cculd 
iind out what to buy, and how and where to plant. 
The early edition of this work, though quite np to the 
ti.me when it was published, is now singularly meagre 
in its chapters on Evergreens, and there are probably at 
this moment in this country, collections, in extent and 
variety (though not in size of trees), greater than was 
the Pinetum at Dropmore, in England, which Mr. 
Downing refers to, in 1841. We are quite sure there 
are over ninety varieties of evergreens, nearly all quite 
hardy in this middle portion of the Hudson, which are 
not mentioned in the first edition, and there are several 
distinct, beautiful, and hardy genera not even alluded 
to, such as the piceas, of which there are at present 
known twelve distinct species, all, we believe, hardy 
here. Mr. Downing mentions seven ahies, and we now 
have in cultivation, more or less general, tive^ity-three 
■more. We have growing in the different collections in 
this country, principally between "Washington and 
Boston, twenty more pines, in addition to the fifteen 
he enumerates, twenty-five junipers, against one in the 
first edition ; ten new {Thnjm) arbor vit£e, and seven 
yews. 

It may be objected that these are not all hardy. 
They may not be in one particular locality, but throughout 
the length and breadth of our land, we have a sufficient 
variety of climate for every thing, and if one cannot grow 
a tree on the shores of Lake Erie, one can, perhaj)s, in 
Pennsylvania or Virginia, or the Carolinas, or Florida. 
Besides, as we shall hope to show, a great deal more may 
be done in planting doubtful trees (than is done) by a ju- 
dicious selection of site and soil. We further hope to 
show that in our best places where there is the desire 
and means to make lai-ge collections, that one should 



EVEEGKEEN OUNAMKNTAL TKKKS. 'i^lH 

not discard a tree because liis neighbor may have not 
been successful with it. 

There are many reasons which may operate against 
the success of a tree this year, and for several years, which 
may disappear in time. One consideration, and that an 
important one, is shelter. Plant a deodar cedar in the 
middle of a large and high field, thoroughly and en- 
tirely exposed to every blast that blows, with the full 
force of a summer, and what is worse, a winter's sun, 
and it is hardly possible it should survive. Plant the 
same tree in the same place with the colder winds 
broken and kept off by masses of evergreens, and 
shielded from the pernicious effects of the early spring 
sun, and the chances are. your tree will succeed and 
flourish. 

Ao-ain, persons are very apt to plant their new 
evergreens, especially if they are rare and costly, in 
what are called "well prepared" holes, that is, in holes 
redolent, perhaps, with guano, and with the richest 
compost to be obtained ; if the new plant is not killed 
immediately by over-dosing, it is at any rate so stimu- 
lated by excess of food as to make a succulent redun- 
dant growth of imperfectly ripened wood, which is sure 
to be killed back the first winter, and tlie tree become 
so enfeebled as to die outright the second ; or the plant 
may have vitality enough to struggle through this sur- 
feit and after staggering for months, or perhaps a year 
or so, with this indigestion, manage to work into healthy, 
natural, unprepared soil, and eventually become a tree. 
Then again, our climate is constantly changing. This, we 
think, is conceded by every one who has wintered in 
the country the past five or ten years, and trees which 
could not or would not stand now, may five years hence ; 
and, lastly, a tree, like a man becomes finally more or 
less acclimatized — it may get knocked about some- 
what at first, but eventually learns to stand up and take 
care of itself. The Torreya, for instance (and we have 



476 LANDSCAPE GAUDKNESTG. 

many such trees upon this place) required an immense 
deal of coaxing to reconcile it to to our northern and 
changeable climate. The first year we left it out it was 
protected by a double box, the interval between the sidings 
being filled with tan. The second year, the tree was 
sheathed in straw and protected besides by a single box, 
with a few air holes on the north ; the third year it was 
open at the north, but protected on the east, south, and 
west, by a box with three sides. The fourth year a mat 
was substituted for the box, and the fifth year it passed 
alone through the winter, the extreme tip of some of its 
more exuberant shoots being a little injured — the well- 
ripened wood being untouclied — since when it survives 
our most severe weather without injury, and now takes 
its place among the really hardy evergreens. We should 
feel no more apprehension about its safety in our worst 
winters than we should about a pine or hemlock. 

A curious fact connected with this tree is, that plants 
propagated from cuttings before it became acclimatized 
are still tender, while plants propagated since its hardi- 
hood became confirmed, seem quite as hardy as the 
parent. 

We are not prepared to say that a great deal of this 
care was not a work of supererogation, and that the 
tree might have done as well with much less protection, 
and for half the number of winters, but we were work- 
ing in the dark ; the tree was a native of Florida ; it 
never had been tried here, and from the climate whence 
it originated, we did not suppose it would stand, and 
felt consequently disposed to take extra pains, for which 
we are quite compensated by the gain of a new and 
most exquisite variety, and the certainty of our know- 
ledge that all torreyas, from this plant at least, are 
are perfectly hardy in this latitude. 

We mention this, simply as one illustration of a great 
many similar experiments, with results more or less 
successful, because we are quite sure it is within the 



EVEKGEEEN OKXAMENTAL TKEES. 477 

experience of most persons wlio liave attempted accli- 
matizing plants, that success not unfrequently is the 
reward, when from the habits of the plants, and the 
character of the climate from which they come, a con- 
trary result 'might be anticipated. We remember in 
England some ten years since, seeing at Chatsworth a 
plant of Weigela rosea, in a house built, if we mistake 
not, expressly for it, because Sir Joseph, then Mr. 
Paxton, did not think it hardy — judging probably from 
the country to which it belonged ; and now there is no 
more common and hardier shrub, and, we may add, 
more beautiful in the season, or one more generally 
planted in tlie ISTorthern States. Mr. Loudon very truly 
observes, "That though the nature of a species cannot 
be so far altered as to fit an inhabitant of a very hot 
climate for a very cold one, yet that the habits of in- 
dividuals admit of considerable variation, and that some 
plants of warm climates are found to adapt themselves 
much more readily to cold climates than otliers ; thus 
the common passion flower, according to Dr. Walker, 
when first introduced into the Edinburgh Botanic 
Garden, lost its leaves during the winter, but in a few 
years the same plant retained the greater part of them 
at that season." The same author relates that plants of 
the common yew, sent from Paris to Stockholm, to 
plant certain designs of Le Notre laid out there for the 
King of Sweden, all died, although the yew is a native 
of that country as well as France. 

" Every gardener," he says, "must have observed that 
the common weeds which have sprung up in pots, in 
hot-beds, or in hot-houses, when these pots happen to 
be set out in the open air, during winter or spring, 
have their leaves killed or injured, whilst the same 
species growing in the open ground are uninjured.*' 

We have ourselves observed, that peach trees in pots, 
if by chance they are left out all winter, are destroyed, 
though the same tree in the ground can resist any 



478 LANDSCAri': gaedp:ning. 

deo-ree of frost. The obvious conclusion to be drawn 
from this is, not that peach trees are not hardv, but 
under certain conditions are not hardy ; which facts lead 
to this theory, that the habits of plants admit of a 
certain degree of change with regard to 'tlie climate 
which they will bear; that the degree in which this 
power exists in any plant, is only to be ascertained by 
experiment, by trying in the open air plants usually 
considered as tender, or which hitherto have been kept 
under glass. 

Our usual method of acclimatizing a plant, is to select 
some very protected and shady spot, as the north side 
of a thicket, or what we prefer, the interior of some 
evergreen wood, and to prepare the holes six feet wide 
and three deep, with loose but poor soil, well drained 
with stones for the lower eight or ten inches, with 
barely compost enough to assist the tree through the 
summer. For the first two or three years in winter, 
a little mound of earth, eight or ten inches high, is 
put around the neck of the plant, to prevent the bad 
effects of thawing and freezing in a most sensitive part, 
and cedar or hemlock boughs, are placed round its 
branches ; this covering diminishing year by year, as 
the tree obtains size and vigor, until it is omitted 
altogether. The plant, to ensure safety, is moved once 
or twice within this wood, each time to a more exposed 
situation, which has also the additional advantage (like 
root pruning) of checking all redundancy of growth. 
When it exhibits sufficient strength, it is transplanted 
to its final situation on the lawn — its cedar eovering 
being renewed for a couple of winters — and, if it can 
be reconciled to the climate, it is now supjDosed to 
be so. 

We have found it very perplexing to arrive at any 
thorough and satisfactory decision as to comparative 
hardihood of trees in difl:erent portions of the United 
States, from its being so difficult to reconcile the appa- 



EYERGKEEN ORNAMENTAL TREES, 479 

rent discrepancies in the various returns -wliicli we 
have received from these places, aud we are led, there- 
fore, to these conclusions, viz : that the hardihood and 
success of trees depend not exclusively upon climate, 
and that a few degrees of latitude, north or south, are 
■)f far less importance than proper soil and situation, and 
that a thorough. knowledge of what to do, Nvhich ex- 
perience alone, after many mishaps, can teach, will 
often enable us to grow trees at the North and East 
which do not seem to succeed now at the West and the 
South. For instance, in the neighborhood of Xatchez, 
within six miles of that city, and on an elevation of three 
hundred and twenty-six feet above the river, the 
Gardenia Florida, the Pittosporum, the Magnolia fuscata, 
the M. grandillora, the Olea fragrans, the Myrtles in 
variety, the English laurel, the Laurestinus, thrive 
pei'fectly. 

The Deodar cedar and Cryptomeria Japonica, never 
suffer except occasionally from caterpillars, and become 
luxuriant trees ; there being specimens of the former 
thirty feet higli, and of the latter fifteen feet, with 
branches in both trees sweeping the ground. Cunning- 
hamia Sinensis is also perfectly hardy, and has reached 
a height of from fifteen to eighteen feet, and yet the 
Abies Smithiana is reported as not quite hardy and 
sometimes injured by spring frosts, though at ISTew- 
port, the Abies Smithiana is said to be the hardiest of 
all the spruces — more so even than the Abies excelsa 
(the common Norway), Again, in a report from Penn- 
sylvania, in the neighborhood of Warrior's Mark, on 
the side of one of the Alleghany mountains, at an altitude 
above the sea of 1,020 feet, and in latitude 40° 40', and 
where the thermometer has indicated 23° below zero, 
where even the Ailanthus, Catalpa, and Paulownia are 
annually cut to the. ground, the Cryptomeria flourishes, 
though browned, and tlie Deodar cedar survives, though 
making little or no progress, when the cedar of Le- 



480 LANDSCAPE GAKDEXING. 

banon, the Silver cedar and the Douglas fir are killed 
outright. Now at Wodenethe, we find the Silver cedar 
and the Cedar of Lebanon much hardier than the 
Deodar, yet at ]Srew23ort tlie Cedar of Lebanon will not 
stand, and at Philadelphia, Mr. Meehan says the Deodar 
is killed on dry soil, and uninjured on wet; while at a 
country place near Boston, on a slope facing the south, 
without any protection or shelter from other trees, 
Deodar cedars planted in 1853, have been browned 
but slightly, though exposed to the sun all the day long. 
Cedars of Lebanon planted at same time, get more 
browned. 

It is very evident from all this, we think, that we 
cannot form any decisive opinion as to what is and what 
is not truly hardy in any one portion of the country, 
where we receive so many contradictory reports ; but it 
does not follow that a failure for one or two years, 
unless very complete, should discourage us so entirely 
as to prevent our trying the same plant again in other 
situations and under different treatment. Because the 
Indian spruce {A. Smithiana) suffers from spring frost 
near Natchez, when the Cryptomeria and Deodar do not, 
let us rather hope to acclimatize it by moving the spruce 
to a higher or drier situation, where being more re- 
tarded, it will either ripen off its annual growth better, 
or push later in the s^Dring. If the Indian spruce is 
hardier at Newport, where the thermometer sometimes 
gets very low, than the common Norway, there can be 
little doubt but what it will grow near Natchez, when 
properly placed. If too, the Deodar cedar, and Cedar 
of Lebanon thrive near Philadelphia, in wet and low, 
instead of high and dry soil, it will be very easy for 
planters of these trees in that vicinity to adopt this 
hint ; while we, who have found the reverse of this 
true, will act in accordance with our experience. 

So also of the Cryptomeria — if it has been found to 
withstand a cold of 23° below zero, on the Alleghany 



EVERGRKKN ORNAMKXIAL TREES. 48 » 

mountains, at an elevation of 1,020 feet above the sea — 
where even the Aihmthus was destroyed, we cannot see 
why this tree may not stand in any other part of the 
country, at the same elevation, having no greater degree 
of cold, but always under the same circumstances and 
conditions. What these are, nnfortunately, the tree 
only knows ; possibly a frost, even as severe as this, at 
a great distance from the sea, may be less injurious tliau 
half the amount of frost near salt water ; or the severe 
weather may come and go, gradually, without the great 
variations common in the middle States ; which varia- 
tion we have always believed most destructive to veget- 
able, as it is injurious to animal life ; and Unally, the 
conclusion we must inevitably come to is that the 
organism of a plant is as wonderful and mysterious as 
that of a man, and that, with certain general rules as 
to planting and treatment, we must gro])e in tlie dark 
until many more years of experience in different parts 
of the United States, enable us to know what we can 
and what we cannot grow. "We trust, however, that 
some assistance may be obtained from the reports we 
have been enabled to procure from different parts of the 
country, by which planters in those localities will be 
able to do as well as their neighbors, if they can give 
their trees the same advantages. 

Another reason why we jiroposed to give in this 
supplement a more complete account and list of all the 
evergreens, hardy and half-hardy, wliich have been 
introduced into this country of late years is (and we 
quote again in part from Mr. Loudon), that we think there 
are few scenes in an ornamental garden or pleasure- 
ground, of greater interest to a person having any taste 
or knowledge of Botany, however sliglit, than a collec- 
tion of trees and shrubs, natives of foreign climates, 
which, though they would be destroyed if exposed in 
the winter, yet when planted (turned out), or sunk 
in the ground during the summer, exhibit a degree of 
31 



482 LANDSCAPE GAEDENING. 

beauty and luxuriance which they never do or could 
attain in a green-house or conservatory ; and -svliich 
require in the winter simply the protection of a cool 
green-house, or in most cases of a cold pit sufficiently 
deep and protected to exclude the frost, and with faci- 
lities for occasionally admitting air for ventilation. 

A pit of this description, well drained and dry, and 
twelve or fifteen feet deep, might accommodate plants 
ten or twelve feet high, which, when planted out in the 
pleasure-grounds during the summer, the tub or pots 
being sunk out of sight in the soil, would produce the 
most extraordinary and charming effects. By an intro- 
duction and combination in our own grounds of bananas, 
palms, aloes, the different arundos (a species of bamboo), 
the different dracaiuas, the New Zealand flax {Phor- 
miuDi tenax), Bamhusa inetake (another variety of 
bamboo), wdiich we hope will prove hardy, the different 
Cannas, and a mingling of the rarer evergreens, like the 
Araucarias (of which CwiningJiamii and exceha are 
very effective), we have, we think, produced a very 
pleasing effect. These, with the Indian cedars, and 
Southern and Mexican long-leaved pines, have quite 
changed a portion of our grounds from an American to 
a tropical and oriental landscape. 

All these plants we have named, and the newer tender 
evergreens which we have not as yet named, would win- 
ter safely (excepting perhaps the araucaria excelsa), in 
a cold j)it or cool green-house, or a dry cellar, where 
there was some light and no frost. If we add to these 
the great variety and number of evergreen shrubs — the 
different evergreen Magnolias, the Hollies, the Laurel, 
the Portugal laurel, the half-hardy Rhododendrons, all of 
wJiich are too tender for our climate, we cannot but 
believe tlie time is not far distant when instead of 
keeping green-houses for the preservation of the ordinary 
green-house plants, persons of taste will build pits for 
the preservation of half-hardy evergreens and ligneous 



EVEEGKEEN OKNAMENTAL TKEES. 483 

plants, wliich, M-hen judiciously arranged and combined 
in the summer, will alter the whole character of their 
grounds. We have in our eye at this moment, many- 
line places, both on this river and in different parts of 
the country, where large green-houses and conservatories 
are kept up all winter, at a great expense, and where 
the plants literally " waste their fragrance on the desert 
air," as the families are away in cities at too great a 
distance to admit their flowers being sent to them. 

These very places in summer present a very unat- 
tractive and meagre appearance, being planted simply 
with the older and less beautiful trees and shrubs — in 
many cases with little or no flower garden. The Came- 
lias, Azalias, Geraniums, and other plants being stowed 
away out of sight, until the return of another winter, 
when they will again bloom for the benefit, solely, of the 
gardener and his friends. 

Were these same houses at a consumption of one-half 
or one-fifth the amount of fuel and labor, devoted to the 
cultivation (or rather to the preservation, for they re- 
quire no cultivation or attention in the winter beyond 
an occasional watering), of half-hardy evergreens and 
tender plants, the compensation and enjoyment from 
them in summer would be ten-fold that derived from 
the usual occupation of plant-houses ; and in cases 
where families are permanent residents of the country, 
let them devote a portion of their green-houses to this 
purpose, or have some arrangement of pits as we have 
above described. 

We must bear in mind one fact : that as excellent 
models as the English are in all matters pertaining to 
country life, yet they use their places only in the winter, 
and we, as a general rule, only in the summer ; while 
it is, therefore, very important for them to have their 
grounds and green-houses adorned with those plants and 
shrubs which will make it most agreeable and delight- 
ful at the season when they are at home, in the winter, 



484 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

jet the reverse of this is true with us. Our object 
should be to make our j)laces as gay and interesting as 
possible, at those portions of the year when we live at 
them. What advantage is it to plant the beautiful varie- 
ties of double and single thorns, the Judas tree, the 
Forsythia, or the Magnolias in those places which the 
families or owners do not reacli until the season of their 
mflorescence is past ; where one lives in the country 
from June to October, the whole force should be ap- 
plied to those plants, shrubs, and floM'ers which bloom 
during these four months ; and as a majority of our 
country gentlemen do not get out to their places much 
before June, and are apt to become very restless after 
the early part of October, we think a selection of those 
plants should be made most useful and attractive during 
this time ; and we do not know anything more effective 
than the proper mingling of some of the large showy 
exotics and tender evergreens we have mentioned. 
Of course Ave do not suggest this as general, but merely 
to those — and their number is now large — who have a 
taste for planting the newer and more striking conifers. 
In concluding this section we will merely add : that 
with one or two exceptions, we have described only 
those plants and shrubs which we have ourselves seen, 
and which, in almost every instance, we have growing 
upon our own place. We believe that a correctness in 
description, and an honest statement of the merits and 
demerits of each plant, will, more than anything else, 
contribute to the main end we have in view — the ex- 
tension of the taste for planting the newer deciduous 
and evero-reen trees. 



THE NEWER EVERGREEN OENAIVIENTAL TREES. 

Abies. The Spruce Firs. 

Abies alba nana (the Dwarf White spruce fir— or Prostrate 
White spruce) is only a dwarf variety of our native White 



THE NEWER EVEEGEEEN OENAMENTAL TKEES. 485 

Spruce fir, seldom growing more than a bush of three or four 
feet, and perfectly hardy, all over the United States. 

A. a. fjlauca. — A very distinct and striking variety of the 
American White spruce, with very white, silvery leaves- 
originating in England, but hardy here, 

A. a. minima. — Another minute English variety, being 
the dwarfest of all the spruces ; and we presume would be 
hardy in this country. 

A. Brunoniwta (the Indian hemlock spi-uce).— Classed by 
Syn. Carriere among the Tsucjas, those kinds with 

A. dumosa. fl^j leaxes, mostly glaucous below. 

We are somewhat perplexed in making up our mind about 
the future condition of this charming tree, as to its availability. 
If it succeed at all, it will certainly require a good deal of 
coaxing. Our own experience has been very various. It has 
stood some winters well, and others, not as cold but possibly 
damper, seem to have destroyed it; and yet, Mr. Smith writes 
us from Newport, it has stood there three years. At Wash- 
ington it is reported tender, as well as at Philadelphia, Flush- 
ing, and at Mr. Reids' nursery at Elizabethtown. We do not, 
however, see why it may not eventually prove hardy after a 
little acclimatization, since Dr. Hooker found it in Sikkin 
at an elevation of nine thousand to ten thousand feet on the 
side of Kunchinjinga, probably the loftiest peak in the world, 
where it reaches a height of seventy to eighty feet. Most per- 
sons would take it for a hemlock spruce, except that the under 
part cf the leaves is perfectly white, forming, when moved by 
the wind, a beautiful blending of green and silver. 

A. excelsa pijgmcea—a very pretty dwarf variety of the Nor- 
way spruce, not exceeding a foot or so in height, but spreading 
very much. The specimens in our grounds do not seem affect- 
ed by the severest winters. 

A. e. monstrosa. — Another hardy variety of Norway spruce, 
with straggling habit, but destitute of branchlets, somewhat re- 
sembling the araucaria imhricata in appearance. 

A. e. pendula. — Also a seedling of the Norway spruce, dif- 
fering only in having its branches more drooping; hardy. 

A. e. varief/ata — A Variegated variety of our common Nor- 
way, pretty, distinctive, and hardy. 



486 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

A, e. Clanbrasiliiina (Lord Clanbrasil's variety). — Exceed- 
ingly dwarf and perfectly hardy ; leaves, only half an inch long, 
and the mature plant not over three feet. 

A. e. eUgans. — A pretty Dwarf hardy variety, with slender 
gray foliage reaching the height of four or five feet. 

A. e. diffusa, A. e. compacta, A. e. i^umila, A. e. attenuata 
— are four Dwarf varieties of the Norway spruce, similar 
in growth and general appearance to those mentioned above, 
and very hardy. In fact, wlierever the Norway spruce 
can be grown, these eight or ten dwarf varieties can, and 
when grouped with the dwarf pine, P. strobns pumilis, and 
the Dwarf Scotch fir, P. sylvestris jminilis, neither, of which 
ever exceed four or five feet, they make a very interesting and 
striking plantation. 

A. Menziesii — (Menzies' fir) known also A. Sitchensis — is a 
tall tree, with light glaucous-colored foliage, growing sixty to 
seventy feet high ; a native of northern California and the island 
of Sitcha; quite hardy here. Our specimens, which have been 
out some five or six years, occasionally get scorched by the 
summer ; in the latitude of Philadelphia it does, likewise, very 
well, as also at Cincinnati, Newport, Washington, Boston, 
Flushing, in New Jersey, and even at Clinton, N. Y., when in 
shade. 

A. obovata (Obovate-coned spruce), known and imported by 
„ us as A. Wittmanniana, is as yet com- 

A. Schrenkiana. paratively new. Judging from the appear- 
. janen&is. ancc of our Specimens now, we should sup- 

pose it v^ould prove hardy,' which is most likely to be the case 
with firs coming from so high an altitude as the Altai moun- 
tains. It is also found in Siberia. It resembles the common 
spruce. It is quite hardy at Flushing, which is the only place 
we can discover where it has been tried. 

A. orientalis (Eastern spruce). — A peculiar tree, with dense 
short foliage covering the branches on all sides, growing 
seventy to eighty feet high, and forming a conical-shaped head. 
A native of the Black Sea, on the loftiest mountains of 
Imeretia, in Upper Mongrelia ; perfectly hardy here, and at 
Washington ; comparatively well at Newport, our youngest spe- 
cimens here, were untouched even by the winters of 1856-7. 



THE KEWER EVERGKEEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 487 

A. Smiildana (the Indian spruce). — This magnificent tree 

„ is found on the mountains from Bootan to 

Syn. 

A. Morinda. Kafiristan, at an elevation of from 7,000 to 
A. Khutrow. 12X/00 feet. It resembles somewhat in its 
size and habit of growth, the finest Norway spruce, though 
much more pendulous and graceful, and with a darker, richer 
foliage, especially when grown in the shade It occa- 
sionally reaches a height of 170 feet, though its usual avei-age 
is 100 to 150. It is also found in China and Japan, where it 
is called " Toionowo-momi " (the Tiger's tail). Although we 
imported this tree some six to eight years ago, we have not 
as yet succeeded in i-aising any very fine specimens. When 
much exposed to the full action of the sun's rays, it becomes a 
dingy yellow green, and is very apt to lose its leader, and young 
plants are sometimes killed down to the snow-line. This is 
also the experience in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, 
Boston, and Columbus, though hardy at Cincinnati. When 
planted with us in the shade, however, it seems to do much 
better in retaining its leader, and we have little doubt it may, 
after some struggle, eventually be acclimatized, especially 
when planted in dry, gravelly, well-drained soil. At Chestnut 
Hill, near Philadelphia, there are perfect specimens, eight to 
ten feet high, with leaders. We have no specimen at Wodenethe 
over six feet, though very broad in proportion. At Washing- 
ton, it is returned to us as hardy and beautiful. The 
largest specimens in the public grounds, planted by Mr. 
Downing, in 1852, are five feet. At Newport, it is reported 
as hardier and finer than A. excelsa (the Common Norwav), 
thougli at Messrs:. Parsons,' at Flushing, Mr. Hogg's, near Yorlx- 
ville, and Mr. Reid's, at Elizabethtown, the younger shoots 
are sometimes injured, and it does better in the shade. At 
Woodlawn, N. J. (Mr. Field's), the oldest specimens are 
seven feet high, and do not now suffer from the winter, perhaps 
from the redundancy of growth being slightly checked by 
having been moved several times. They have also borne 
cones, which at first were erect like the Picea's, liut. afterwards 
pendulous like the Abies', which accounts for the confusion 
mentioned by Mr. Loudon, that has existed as lo wlietlier- 
this tree was an abies or a picea. 



488 LAiSTDSCAPK GAKDENING. 

A. Douglasii (the Douglas fir). — Another superb tree, re- 

g specting the hardihood of which, very much the 

Tsuga Donglasii. same remarks we made about the preceding 

Picea Douglasii. ^^^^.j^^^ ^^^ Smithiana), will apply. Plants 

with us, in low, damp ground, suffer occasionally in color, if 
not in loss of leader, while those grown in the shade, or on an 
exposed hill-side, in poor, slaty soil, succeed admirably. This 
is also the case near Boston, at " Wellesley" (Mr. Ilunne- 
well's), where trees, two years planted, are five feet high, and 
do admirably in the shade ; while at Mr. Reid's, at Elizabeth- 
town, it loses its leader in severe winters ; and near Phila- 
delphia, Mr. Meehan reports : " that so far it has not been 
satisfactory.'' At Washington, perfectly hardy ; at Newport, 
it wont stand ; though at Augusta, Ga., and Cincinnati, it 
thrives well. The variety originates in the north-western 
part of North America, and along the banks of the Columbia 
River, where it is found in immense forests, and also on the 
Rocky Mountains, on the top of which, it rarely is more than 
a small bush, but becomes larger and more stately as it 
descends, until it reaches the altitude of one hundred and 
fifty to two hundred feet. Its foliage is very dark, and the 
tree generally resembles a superb balsam fir. 

A. Jezoensis (the Jezo fir), found in China, and the Island of 

Jezo, is probably hardy, thousrh we have not 
Syn. / _ •' •' _ "- 

Picea Jezoensis. heard of its being tested sufiicienll}^ to pronounce 
decidedly. It is quite striking. There has been 
a good deal of confusion in its classification, as to whether it is 
a spruce or Silver fir, and it would seem to be intermediate, 
though we believe with persistent cones. Our specimens, 
which are small, seem quite hardy, and are not very unlike in 
their general appearance, the Torreya^ and also the Cephalo- 
taxus. 



Araucaria. 

This extraordinary and most distinguished genus of plants 
derives its name from Araucanos, a people of Chili, where the 
species known as imhricata greatly abounds, its seeds ham" 
used for food. 



THE NEWER EVEEGEEEN OENAMENTAL TREES. 489 

Tlie only vai'iety which approaches hardihood in this part of the 
country is the A. imbricata, (ChiH pine), which when planted in 
sand and gravel on well drained soil, and in a shady wood, succeeds 
quite Vv'ell— that is to say, we have specimens which withstood 
the severe winters of 1855-6-7, with no other protection than 
a few hemlock boughs, and came out perfectly bright and 
green in the spring, even with their leaders uninjured for the 
past three years. Both sun and wet are fatal to it, and in 
situations where there are no side-hills sloping to the north, it 
should be planted on the north of buildings, on little mounds, 
with at least the lower foot in the holes filled with stones for 
drainage. Mr. Saunders informs us that there are some fine 
healthy trees near Baltimore, with upright shoots. At Wash- 
ington, a specimen planted, in 1852, by Mr. Downing, in the 
public grounds has succeeded admirably, though a little injured 
by the winter of 1856. It does not stand at Newport, and at 
Flushing, and in New Jersey succeeds only when sheltered ; 
so also at Cincinnati. In Augusta it is eminently successful. 
The other varieties, A. Bidwili, A. Brasiliensis,- A. Cimning- 
hamii, and A. excelsa (the beautiful Norfolk Island pine), are 
too tender for any but our extreme Southern States, though all 
thriving, except ex'-elsa, in the open ground at Augusta, Ga. ; but 
for purposes of ornament to cultivated grounds in summer w^e 
know nothing more distinguished than these different varieties 
grown in tubs and protected in winter in a common green-house. 



Biota. 



The Chinese or Eastern arbor vitaj, so called to distinguish 
it from Thvja, the American or "Western arbor vitae. 

B. orienfalis, (Chinese arbor vitas), which was but compara- 
tively new, when this book was first published, has not proved 
quite as hardy or as available as was at first hoped ; all our 
reports, from different parts of the country, speak of it in most 
cases as not quite hardy, at any rate doing better in protected 
situations. Even in New Jersey it is sometimes killed to the 
jrround in severe winters. Our best returns are from Washin"-- 
ton, Avhere it is reported as very commonly planted and pe^ 
fectly successful. A.t Woodlawn, N. J. (Mr Field's), there is a 



490 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING. 

hedge of it many years planted, which suffered a great deal at 
first, but of late years, by severe cutting in the spring it seems 
to have become quite acclimatized. 

B. orienlalu glauca, and B. argentea, are new varieties, 
not yet, we think, introduced ; the first a seedling of Messrs. 
Pince, of Exeter, England, of a very silvery appearance, and 
the latter resembling the Aurea,he\ng silver instead of gold. 

B. orientalis aurea, (the Golden arbor vitae,) is a seedling of 
Messrs. Waterer, in England, we believe from the old B. 
orientalis (the Chinese arbor vitaj). The B. awea is a pretty, 
dense, and beautifully compact little shrub, growing not over 
two or three feet high, of an exquisite delicate green in 
winter, and a golden color at the extremities of its branches in 
spring. 

It is perfectly hardy with us, at Fishkill, though forty miles 
above us it does not stand well ; but we have observed that onr 
trees, now several years old, though untouched by the cold or 
sun, lose very much the compact pressed appearance so charac- 
teristic of the English plants, and its principal charm we thinlc, 
on this account. In complete collections of evergreens this is 
one of the varieties we should recommend to be grown in pots 
and kept in the house during the winter, although there is no 
doubt of its hardihood here. 

B. pcndiila. (Weeping arbor vitai). — A bush or small tree, 

gyJ^^ growing ten to fifteen feet high, with very long, 

Thuja penduia, slender, pendulous branches ; is one of the 

Thuja flliformis. ... f i i i 

greatest acquisitions to our periectly hardy 
trees. Our largest specimen, eight to ten feet, has survived 
our coldest winters and hottest summers for ten or twelve 
years, without the slightest protection. Nothing can well be 
prettier or more graceful than this charming little tree. We 
do not know why this should not be hardy in our most northern 
States, though, we understand, it is sometimes killed near 
Philadelphia ; yet near Boston, and at Washington, it does as 
well as here. It was at one time supposed to be a hybrid be- 
tween the Common Red cedar and an arbor vitre, and to 
have originated in a nursery in England ; but Dr. Siebold hav- 
ing discovered the plant wild in China, finally decided the 
question. 



THE NEWER EVEEGKEEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 491 

B. orienialls gracilis.— This variety, which we have received 

under the latter name, Nepalensis, is perfectly hardy 

Syn. and much more slender and graceful than the 

B.Nepalensis.^^^^^^^ Chinese. It is found in Nepaul and 

Northern India. We consider it one of the most interesting of 

the arbor vitoe. 

B. Tartarica (Tartarian arbor vitaj). — A dense conical bush 

i^yn, growing ten feet high, a native of Tartary ; quite 

B. pyramidalis, distinctive. Our Specimen, eight feet high, has 

Thuja australis. , ,^ i i i 

always proved perfectly hardy. 
We are inclined to believe that this variety may be often 
confounded with and sold for wliat is called the Siberian arbor 
vita}, and the place of its origin would seem to justify this ; but 
we do not find, in all our authorities or in any of the English 
or French catalogues, any mention of the Siberian arbor viti^, 
except as a synonym of T. occidentalis (the American arbor 
vit£e), Avhich, what is known in this country as Siberian, cer- 
tainly is not. It is also associated with Warreana, thougli the 
latter came from Nootka Sound, and would seem to be identi- 
cal with Don's pUcata. 



Cednis. The Cedar, 

C. Allanlica (the Mount Atlas cedar), or better known in 
^y^ this country as the Silver cedar of Lebanon, is only 

c. argentea. g, variety of the ordinary Cedar of Lebanon with 
glaucous leaves. It is not impossible, however, but what it 
may be in certain localities hardier, since it thrives perfectly at 
Newport, when the common Cedar of Lebanon is cut down and 
not unfrequently killed. This is also the report from Flush- 
ing. 

As all the remarks, we propose to make about the Cedar of 
Lebanon, apply to this tree, we shall refer our readers to the 
succeeding pages, 

C. deodaia (the Deodar or Indian Cedar). — The anticipations 

Syn. formed of this most graceful evergreen in the 

Pinus deodara. flj-st edition of this book, we truly regret to say, 

have not been generally fulfilled. It grows so readily and so 

rapidly, particularly in the later autumn months, that it is with 



492 r.ANi:)SCAi'E gardening. 

great reluctance we feel constrained to admit it is not to be de- 
pended upon. It is certainly the most delusive of all evergreens. 
We have upon this place raised specimens twelve to fifteen feet 
high, as perfect as could be, but which the winters of 1855-G 
severely injured, and the subsequent winter finished to the snow- 
line. These trees are now about eiglit oi nine feet high, with 
several leaders, and nearly fifty feet in circumference, mostly 
holding their color well so far this winter, though having been 
subjected to a temperature, for two days, of 15^ below zero. 
The fault of the tree (if so charming a tree can have any 
fault) is its habit, like the Cryptomeria and Taxodium sem- 
pervirens, and many other of the new evergreens, of making a 
late autumnal growth without ripening off its wood. 

The fact that the tree below the snow-line almost always 
appears fresh and green, proves, we think, quite satisfactorily, 
that some protection, and no or little sun, will go far towards 
establishing its hardihood. A wood, or the north side ot 
buildings, will accomplish this ; and if to tliis, we add such a 
preparation of soil as will retard rather than stimulate the tree, 
so that by accomplishing an early growth it may ripen off its 
wood, we tliink we may again hope to acclimatize the 
Deodar, which as now grown in tlie Middle States, hardly 
amounts to more than a bush, annually increasing in amplitude, 
but not in height. There are portions of this country, in the 
neio-hborhood of Washington possibly, and in Southern Vir- 
ginia, and about that latitude, and as far south as Augusta, 
Ga., where it succeeds admirably. In the extreme south it 
suffei'S from the sun in summer as much as it does here from 
the sun in winter. There are, however, specimens at Mr, 
Affleck's, near Natchez, twenty-five to thirty feet high, and fea- 
thering to the ground. At Flushing, L. I., in Ohio, in New Jer- 
sey, and near New York, it does best in some shelter ; though at 
" Woodlawn," near Princeton, a specimen, ten feet high, and 
thirty-three in circumference, stands well in the most exposed 
situations. When first imported, it was supposed to be hardier 
than the Cedar of Lebanon, but subsequent experience does 
not confirm this — at least in our case. 

C. djodara viridis (the Green deodar), C. deodara rohusta 



THE NEWER EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 



493 



(the Robust deodar), are only varieties of the common deo- 
dar—the former being of a slenderer habit, and more vivid 
"•reen, and the latter much coarser and stouter. As these two 
varieties are out with us for the first time this winter, we can 
not as yet say how hardy they may prove, and we have no 
returns from any other place. 

We may as well, perhaps, add here, that Mr. IMeehan 
reports, near Philadelphia, " all Deodars on wet low soils are 
uninjured, Avhile those on dry are killed outright." This is 
the contrary of our theory and experience here certainly, 
but facts are better than arguments, and time alone will show 
whether a damp or dry soil is most congenial to this plant. 

C. Lehind (Cedar of Lebanon.) — This is another variety of 
g the genus Cedrus, so distinct and remarkable 

Pinus cednis. (jj^t we regret being compelled to say it has 

edius cemcia. ^^^^^ fallen short of what was expected ^nd 
hoped of it ; and we doubt, if, with a few exceptions, there are 
more specimens now in this country, or much larger, than 
when Mr. Downing Avrote his first edition. After the specimen 
at Thro2:"''s Neck (Mr. Ashe's), the next best we know of is at 
Woodlawn (Mr. Field's), at Princeton, N. J., where a specimen 
(Fig. 38) planted in 1842 is now thirty-six feet high, bearing 
cones, and may be considered beyond all risk ; and also some 
trees at Laurel Hill Cemetery, near Philadelphia, planted by 
Mr. J. J. Smith, the founder of that most lovely and interesting 
of rural cemeteries. 

These trees were only slightly browned in the severe winters 
of 1855-6. But Mr. Field's soil is a light sandy loam, and 
that of Laurel Hill, a gravel or disentegrated rock, lying high 
above the surface of the Schuylkill, and so protected by trees 
as to allow even the Gordonia pubescens to flourish to the 
height of forty feet, strewing the ground in September with its 
fragrant blossoms. In both these cases, as in our own, the soil 
has been dry, and the tree not stimulated by a damp, rich 
position ; and although the winter of 1855-6 reduced, with us, 
a tree of fifteen feet to eight, yet other specimens, a little less 
exposed to the full influence of the morning sun, suffered 
simply a little browning of the leaves, and have since gone 
through an ordinary winter without any injury, leading us to 



494 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

the conclusion that in this huitude, the Cedav of Lebanon may 
be considered fairly hardy, but " t^low ;" and though not grow- 
ing with mucli rapidity, and occasionally liable to lose a little 
in the winter of what it has made in the summer, yet on the 
whole, like the tortoise in the fable, we believe it will come out 
first in the end, and should be much more generally planted. 

At Washington, Mr. Saul writes us, it is perfectly hardy, 
specimens in the Capitol grounds being twelve feet high ; and 
at Yorkville, it is returned as hardy ; but at Flushing and at 
Elizabethtown its reputation is a little qualified, though sup- 
posed to become hardy as it advances. At Augusta, Ga., it is 
straggling and uncertain ; and in Ohio, both in the neighbor- 
hood of Columbus and Cincinnati, it is very much injured by 
severe winters. ' 

Cephalotaxus. The Clusteu-Floweked Yeavs. 

This fine genus, as yet very new, deriving its name (Ks^aXv^ 
— kephale — a head, and Ta^is — taxis — arrangement), from the 
flowers and fruit growing in close, globular heads, is likely, we 
think, to become a great acquisition in this country. With us 
it has proved quite as hardy as the Common English yew, 
and although like that plant, the foliage is much finer and 
darker in the shade, yet we have had no difficulty, for the past 
three years, in growing it in the sun. 

The only varieties as yet known here, we think, are : 

Cephulolaxus Forluni — mas, and femina — (Fortune's Male 
and Female cephalotaxus), found by Mr. Fortune in the north 
of China, particularly in the province Yang-Sin, and also in 
Japan, growing from forty to fifty feet high — the foliage, not 
unlike that of the torreya, is longer and wider than the yew. 
With us the male plant seems the most hardy, the female hav- 
ing suffered somewhat in the winter of 1850-7. 

C. drupacea — (The Plum-fruited cephalotaxus), is another 
fine variety which has proved hardy with us. It resembles 
very much the Irish yew, and also the Taxus, or more properly 
the Podocarpus Japonica. Mr. Carriere, in his excellent work 
on Conifers, makes it a synonym of the Female cephalotaxus 
Fortuni, but our plant certainly differs much from this, in hav- 
ing both darker and shorter foliage; grows about 20 feet high. 
Cephalotaxus pedunculata, and C. umhraculifera, are the 



thp: newer evergreen ornamental trees. 495 

two remaining varieties of the genus, and we think, are likely 
10 prove as hai'dy as the jireceding ones. 



Chamctcyparis. The White Cedar. 
Cltamcccyparis spha:roida variegata — soraetiraes called both 
Thuja and Cujjressus variegata — is, beyond doubt, we think, a 
beautiful golden variety of the White cedar, great use of which 
is made in England, combined with the Golden and Silver 
yews, and the Golden and Variegated arbor vitne. We have 
had it out but one winter, but we see no reason why it should 
not prove hardy. 

Cryptomeria. The Japan Cedar. 

Cryplomeria, — (The Japan cedar) ; from Krupios, hidden, 
and Meris, a part. 

C. Jap)onica. — This exquisite tree, deservedly called the 
" Queen of Evergreens," is a native of China, growing sixty 
to one hundred feet high. It was discovered in 1784, by Pro- 
fessor Thunbergh, and only introduced into England by Mr. 
Fortune, in 1844, where it succeeds perfectly well and is 
the, or certainly one of the most charming of the newer ever- 
greens. With us, in the Southern States, it succeeds admirably ; 
but farther north it is apt to suffer from our severe winters. 
At Wodcnethe we have little trouble in growing it in a wood, 
and we have one specimen, which we are in the habit of starv- 
ing in very poor soil, and on a side hill quite exposed to the 
strong west winds, which has been out five years and does not 
even brown. This tree has a worse habit than the Deodar, of 
growing late into the autumn. Where this can be partially pre- 
vented, by thin, light soil, especially with some shade from a 
wood or buildings, we believe, as far north as Fishkill, it can 
be grown, though, perhaps, never to develop its full and grace- 
ful beauties. Near Philadelphia, at Chestnut Hill, it sometimes 
suffers, though last winter not at all ; and at Laurel Hill it has 
stood for several severe winters, without injury, under the shade 
of other trees. At Newport, it is tolerably hardy, there being 
epeclraens ten feet high. Near Boston, the roots keep alive, 
but no pi'ogress is made in the tree. At Washington, there is 
a specimen in La Fayette Square, planted by Mr. Downing 
in 1852, and never protected, which has reached fourteen 



496 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

feet, and is very beautiful. At Elizabethtowu, it succeeds 
when sheltered. At Flushing, the extremities of the branches 
suffer in severe winters, and at Yorkville, near New York, 
it is considered hardy under favorable circumstances, as also 
at " Woodlawn," N. J., the residence of Mr. Field, Avhere 
there are specimens twenty-nine feet in circumference, though 
not proportionally high. In Ohio, it is killed to the ground in 
severe winters. This is another of those evergreens, Avhich 
grown in tubs, ten to fifteen feet high, and planted (plunged) 
out in summer, would produce most agreeable effects in orna- 
mental grounds, with no care in winter beyond removing it to 
a cellar or cool green -house, 

C. Japoiiica viridis, C. Japonica lohhii, C. Japonica nana. — 
These three are only varieties of the one above described, and 
we presume no more hardy, unless it be Lohhii, introduced 
from the Dutch Botanic gardens at Batavia. C. nana, which 
is a mere dwarf-bush, always seems to suffer with us more from 
the sun in summer tlian the cold in winter. We have a fourth 
variety, received from France, called Pendula, rather more 
slender and pendulous than Japonica. 



CUNNINGHAMIA. 

Cunninghamia. — A small tree, native of Japan and China, 
named after its discoverer, Mr. Cunningham. There are but 
two varieties, of which C. Sinensis or C. lanceolala, is the one 
most generally cultivated in this country. In its general char- 
acter and appearance, it resembles very much Araucaria imhri- 
cata, with lance-like leaves, though lighter green. With us it 
stands generally better than the araucaria, and will make an 
admirable substitute for this tree, if it should prove hardy. 

At Baltimore, Ave have seen a plant six or eight feet high, 
and apparently quite vigorous. At Newport, it is also regarded 
as quite hardy, and a great accession. Specimens there are 
six feet high, and near Natchez, fifteen to eighteen feet, nearly 
half its full size, and always untouched by winter. At Flush- 
ing it stands about as well as the cryptomeria, and will proba- 
bly prove about as reliable as this tree ; as yet it is compara- 
tively new, and we have but few returns about it. 

C. (jlauca, the remaining variety, differs only in its leaves 
being silvery. 



THE NEWER EVEKGKEEX ORNAMENTAL TREES. 497 

Cupressus. Thk True Cypress. 

This fine genus — not mentioned by Mr. Downing in the early 
edition of his work, and of which there are now some twenty 
varieties known and cultivated in Enghmd — seems peculiarly 
nnsuited to this climate. The cypress is found indigenous in 
the south of Europe, China, Mexico, the East Indies, and a 
few varieties, erroneously classed among our cedars and junipers, 
in this country. There are but three varieties which may be 
considered as fairly hardy, and as some of these are better 
known under different names, we may say there is not one 
hardy cypress, distinctly known and recognized as such, that is 
cultivated in the northern and middle portion of the United 
States. The half-hardy varieties, such as attenuctta, e.rcelsa, 
sempervirens, Goveniana, Lusitanica,torulosa. Rnd a few otliers, 
can probably never be cultivated, unless in pots, except at the 
extreme south. The only species we can rely upon here will be : 
C. Nootkaensis (the Nootka Sound cypress), but better known 
here as 2'huiopsis BoreaUs, is a tall ever- 
rp, . ■ rr ^, 4 1 green tree, reachino; the height of one hun- 

Tnuiopsis Tcnugatskoy. » 500 

dred feet, with widely expanded branches, 

very flexible ; as it advances, the limbs are covered with small 
blisters, which, on being punctured, emit a fine aromatic balsam, 
whence is derived another synonym, ah'ies aromatica. It is also 
found in Russia, near Lake Tschondskoe. It is but yet very 
new, even in England; our specimens have been out two win- 
ters and are perfectly hardy, as it will probably prove to be in 
every northern part of the United States. 

C. pendula. — There are three Weeping cypresses, one a 
synonym of Thvja filiformis, or Biota Jiliformis (Weeping 
arbor vita;), which we have already described as very beautiful 
and perfectly hardy ; a second, a synonym of C. torulosa, a 
variety ot which we have mentioned above as only adapted 
for the extreme south;* and a third, a synonym of C. funebris. 

C. funebris (the Weeping or Funebral cypress), is another 
tree like the Deodar cedar and cryptuvieria, of which much was 
expected, but little obtained. 

It was first noticed, we believe, by Lord McCartney in his 
(expedition to China, who described it as having the appearance 
as x.n immense evergreen Weeping willow, but it was only in- 

* Mr. Buist thinks this iiiav prove hardy near Philadelphia. 

32 



4iJ8 LANDSCAPE GAEDEXING. 

troduioed into England, many years subsequently, by Mr. For- 
tune, from the celebrated tea country " Wheychou," in the 
north of China. It is described as attaining a height of sixty 
feet, with horizontal branches, sweeping upwards with its grace- 
ful curves and dropping again at the points. We observe, from 
our returns, it has been tried in many parts of the United 
States, but, so far, has only succeeded well at Augusta, Ga., 
where both Messrs. Berckmans and Mr. Redmond report most 
favorably as to its hardihood ; with us it has succeeded but in- 
differently, though having had every advantage from poor soil 
and a protecting wood. Even in "Washington, it is too tender 
to be relied on. 

C. Lawsoniana (Lawson's cypress), the most beautiful of 
the cypresses, if not of trees, raised from seed in 1857, collected 
and sent to England by Mr. Murray. It grows one hundred 
feet high, and is found along the banks of streams and in the 
vallies of the mountains of Northern California, in latitude 40° 
to 42°. 

There is one very distinctive characteristic about it, which 
we have observed, and by which it can readily be recognized, 
the drooping of the leading shoots like the Deodar. The tops 
of the branches hang down like an ostrich feather. It is said 
to resemble the C. Nuikacnsis [Thuiopsis Burealis), described 
above, but our plants are much more slender and graceful. 

We have strong hopes this charming evergreen may be 
acclimatized. Our trees are out for their first winter. It 
is also on trial at Cincinnati. It is still very rare and ex- 
pensive ; small plants, eight to ten inches high, costing a 
guinea. 



Dacnjdium. Dackydium. 

A very rare genus, found only in New Zealand and the East 
Indies, and so tender as hardly worth Avhile being mentioned, 
except that a new variety, lately introduced into England, 
promises to be hardy there, and may consequently be in certain 
parts of the United vStates. This variety, D. FranUinii (Iluon 
pine), is found in Van Dieman's Land, and becomes a tree of 
one hundred feet high, thickly covered with spray ; the branches 



THE NEWEK EVERGREEN ORNAilENTAL TREES. 499 

are numerous, dense, long, and very flexible in our plants (in 
pots) like whip-cords. We have not received any reports of 
this tree. 

D. Cupressinum (the Cypress-like dacrydium), though not 
hardy, is well worthy of cultivation in pots. It is exceedingly 
graceful and pretty, with slender, delicate, almost thread-like, 
drooping shoots, thickly clothed with small, spiny leaves. A 
specimen we have, about eight feet high, is much admired 
There are several other varieties for the conservatory. 



Fiiz Roya Patagonia. The Patagonian Fitz Roya. 
A laro'e evergreen tree, found in the mountains of Patagonia 
growing one hundred feet high, but introduced within the past 
three years into England, where so far it stands well. Our 
specimens are out for their first winter. We have every reason 
to suppose this may survive our climate ; since in its native 
country it diminishes from one hundred feet in the valleys, 
to only a few inches on the borders of perpetual congelation. 



Glyptostrohus. The Embossed Cypress. 

This new genus, which has been but lately introduced under 

this name (derived from " Ghjpho," embossed, and " strohus," a 

cone), but has been previously by some botanists regarded as 

a Taxodium ; is a native of China, where it is called the Water 

pine. 

The only variety of this genus, apparently recognized as dis- 
tinct by the English, is G. hcterophyllus, known also as Thuja 
pensilis, and Taxodium Japonicum ; although Endlicher has 
another and very beautiful variety, which we have found per- 
fectly hardy at Wodenethe, more so even than G. heterop)hyl- 
his. This is the Glyptostrohus sinensis j)e?idulus, which is also 
recognized under this name by the French arboriculturists, 
though in the English Pinetums, and by Gordon, in his very 
excellent work on Conifers, it is classed as a Taxcdium ; and 
we have imported it fiom France as Glyptodrobus sinensis pen- 
dulus ; from England, as Taxodium sinense pendulum ; while in 



500 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

our nurseries, it is sold as the Weeping deciduous cypress ; 
:iud we think it is generally regarded by those who have it in 
this country (which are very few), as identical with our South- 
ern deciduous or Swamp cypress, and only a pendulous and 
more delicate variety of it ; this is also the classification 
of the English. Under this embarrassment, we sent specimens 
of the three varieties to that distinguished botanist, Dr. Gray, who 
replied that, in his opinion, " the Genus Glyptostrohus will be 
adopted as distinct from Tazodium, though most resembling 
it ;" that Glyptostrohus s. 2^endiilus and Taxodium s. pendulum 
are the same thing, under different names ; •' while G. hctero- 
2)hyllus is the allied species, and probably not distinct." 

The Taxodium pendulum is one of the most graceful and 
exquisite little trees, which will survive the rigor of our north- 
ern winters. With us, as before stated, it is untouched by the 
severest weather. 

The resemblance to the Southern deciduous or Swamp cy- 
press, which has led to its being confounded with this variety 
is chiefly in the autumn, when the leaves are expanded and 
spread out very much like it ; but in the earlier spring months, 
they are twisted and compressed around the stem, having a 
very peculiar wavy and curl id appearance. 

At Newport, in New Jersey, and at Flushing, this ti'ee is 
returned as hardy and very superb. 



Juniperus. The Juniper. 

Of this large and important family of plants, J. Virginiana, 
commonly called the Red Cedar, was tlie only variety men- 
tioned by Mr. Downing. The name itself is derived from the 
Celtic word Juneprus, meaning rough or rude, from the stiff 
character of tlie plants, or from Juniores pariens, the old and 
young leaves and berries being on the plant at the same time. 
There are some twenty-six to thirty varieties known and cul- 
tivated in Europf^, of which nineteen or twenty have reached 
the collections in this country. 

Of these, alphabetically, the first on the list is J. Bed- 
fordiana^ a slender variety of J. Virginiana, found on 



THE NEWER EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 501 

the island of Barbadoes, and the Windward Islands, and 

Syn. erroneously cultivated by these three names, 

J. Barbadensis. ^jy gf^ch of whicli we have it. We ob- 

J. Gossainthania. . i i • 

serve irom our returns, that this tree, under 
these three names, is also pretty generally cultivated at 
the prin'cipal nurseries in this country; and while J. Gossain- 
thania is generally considered perfectly hardy, and J. Bed- 
fordiana nearly as much so at Newport, Washington, and 
New Jersey, J. Barbudensis is reported as tender in the one 
or two places where tried, from which, it is evident, there is 
some confusion in the synonym. It is a pretty, graceful, slender 
tree, with drooping branches ; when fully grown, some fifty feet 
high. 

J. Cah'fornica (Californian juniper). — Is an extremely pretty, 
delicate variety from California, with glaucous leaves, attaining 
an altitude, in its native country, of forty feet. We received 
this variety from Messrs. Ellwanger & Barry two years since, 
and have not yet ventured it out. It is more rare in England 
than here, being classed among those of which little is known. 
J. Canadensis (Canadian or Common juniper). — This well 
Syn. known species in our Northern States, and the 

J. deprcssa. northern parts of North America, Labrador, New- 
foundland, &c., is merely a bush, with a loose open 
head, from three to five feet high. It is sometimes confounded 
with the Dwarf juniper of Europe, but has a smaller and 
lighter foliage, with rather more of an upright tendency ; per- 
fectly hardy. 

</. Chinensis (Chinese juniper). — A very great acquisition, 
Syn. fi'om China and Japan, perfectly hardy with us 

J. Thumbergii. jj-j {j^g most severe winters, and a most beautiful 
variety. It is dioecious, the male plant being 
distinguished with male flowers of a bright yellow color in 
the spring, and veiy showy when fully grown, attaining a 
height of fifteen to twenty feet. The female variety, known 
and sold also as J. Reevesiana, and J. Jlagelleformis, is rather 
smaller than the male ; berries small, of a glaucous violet brown 
when ripe. We strongly recommend these trees, especially 
the male, as being perhaps, the finest of the really hardy 
junipers. 



502 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

/. communis (Common juniper). — This plant, which is the 

g ordinary juniper of Europe, is not the same as 

J. Cracovia. the J. communis, or Canadensis of this country. 

. V gans. j^ ._^ fjjjjj-|j generally on the Continent, and in 
England, a loose, spreading tree or bush, of twelve to eighteen 
feet high ; while on tops of mountains it becomes a straggling 
shrub. There are three varieties of the common European or 
English juniper, all well known, and cultivated in the United 
States, viz. : 

J. communis Suecica (Swedish juniper). — A native of Nor- 
way, Denmark, Sweden, and Russia, a conical, upright growing 
bush, of from twelve to twenty feet, very hardy, Ave believe, in 
every part of the country. 

/, communis Hibernica (Irish juniper). — A neat, pretty, 
slender variety, found on the mountains of Ireland, more 
upright and delicate than the Swedish, though resembling it. 
It sometimes suffers with us from the sun in midsummer, but 
i-arely from the cold, and this we see by our returns, is its 
character generally. 

J. communis compressa — which we imported some years 
since, as Hispanica, or Spanish juniper — seems quite as hardy 
with us as either of the other varieties, being compact and close 
in its habit, but with a less vivid green ; it comes from the 
Apennines. There is another Spanish juniper, called J. thu- 
ripera, from the mountains of Spain, forming a dense, handsome, 
pyramidal tree, tapering to a point, and growing to the height 
of thirty feet, which we also find entirely hardy. 

J. Japonica (Japan juniper) — is a small, hardy, bush from 
S'jn. the mountains of Japan, not growing ovei 

Chinensis pvocumbens. p-i-i ^ ^^ ^- ,. 

one or two leet high, and distmct. 
/. nana (the Dwarf juniper). — Common all over Europe, 
^y„ England, Scotland ; seldom growing over one foot 

J. Alpina, high, but Spreading. It is so often taken for J. 
"^ and ei^Wi Canadensis of this country, as to be constantly con- 
others, founded and grown for it. 

J. ohlunga -pendula (Weeping juniper) — unquestionably the 
Syn. most attractive of the junipers ; a small tree 

.r. pendula vera. fifteen to twenty feet high, from the Hakone 

ridge of mountains in the island of Niphon in Japan ; perfectly 



THE NEWER JOVEKGKEEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 503 

hardy with us, and the most graceful and pendulous of ever- 
greens. Our best specimen (Fig. 93) has been planted ten 
years — it is nearly six feet higli, though only a few inches 
when set out. We find it transplants badly and recovers slowly, 
and when necessary to be moved, should be balled in winter, or 
moved with greatest care. It takes several years to get under 
way, and often dies back from sun, but, when once started, suc- 
ceeds admirably. 

J. occidentalis ("Western juniper). — We doubt very much if 
Syn. the variety is, in this country, correct, at any rate we 

J. exceisa. luj^yg ^q returns about it; and if here at all it may 
be under its synonym o^ excelsa, with which it, and many other 
junipers, are frequently confounded. It is found, at an eleva- 
tion of five thousand feet, on the Klamet mountains in Oregon, 
and also on the Rocky mountains, where it becomes an um- 
brelhi-shaped tree of forty feet, with a pretty silver bloom ; it 
will, no doubt prove quite hardy here. 

J, oxycedrus (Prickly juniper). — This variety is reported as 
iSyn. hardy in Jersey. Our plants are out for the 

J. monspeiiensium. gj-st winter, and we cannot, therefore, report 
upon them now. It is found on the Apennines, at an elevation 
of three thousand feet, in France, also in Spain, and Por- 
tugal. Our specimens are attractive from being more or less 
glaucous on both sides of their leaves ; the branches are angu- 
lar and rather pendant ; it grows eight to ten feet high, and its 
berries are used in flavoring gin. 

J. P/iamicta (Phoenician juniper). — This species, forming a 
bush of fifteen to twenty feet in height, of a beautiful pyramidal 
shape, is found on the rocks along the shores of the Mediter- 
ranean, near Nice and Calabria. We have favorable reports 
of its hardihood from New Jersey ; we have not tried it. There 
is another variety, J. P. Lycia (Lycian juniper), a much smaller 
bush than the preceding, and greener foliage, originating in the 
Levant, but also found, according to Prof. Pallas, in Siberia — 
it having been introduced in the Russian gardens as juniperus 
duvurica. This is the juniper from which the gum called 
olibanura is collected, so much used for incense in religious 
ceremonies on the Continent. This, no doubt, will prove hardy 
in the Uuited States. 



504 LANDSCAPE GAKDEMNG. 

J. prostvata (Prostrate-branch juniper). — This interesting 

„ ^ species, so well known all over the Middle and 

J. repens, Northern States, need hardly be described ; 

J. humihs, ^^.jj^Ij yg -t is a common road-side plant, and 

J. sabina prostrata. '■ 

very much neglected in consequence. We do 
not really know a finer object than this juniper, well grown in 
ornamental grounds where it has ample space to develop itself 
There are two specimens at Mr. Field's in Princeton, truly 
superb, resembling immense great evergreen beds, not over 
two feet high, but thirty feet in circumference. 

J. recurva (Weeping Indian juniper). — Tliis is certainly a 
gyn_ very charming variety, and we wish we could say 

J. Nepalensis. j^ jg perfectly hardy ; with us, heretofore, in the 
winter, it becomes very shabby and dingy, having much the 
clouded look produced by the web of the red spider ; this, how- 
ever, is where it has been exposed to the winter's sun. We 
have now some specimens planted in a wood, and well pro- 
tected, which we hope may do better. 

Mr. Hogg writes us that at Yorkville, when sheltered, it may 
be reirarded as hardy ; and this is i^eported also from Flushing, 
L. I., and in New Jersey ; at Washington it did well until in 
jured by the winter of 1855-6. The only unqualified return of 
entire success is from Augusta, Ga., where it is grown without 
trouble. J. recurva densa is the male form of this variety ; with 
us, the male is more dwarf, and of much closer and thicker 
habit. The plant itself originates in Nepaul and in Bhotan, at 
an elevation of eight to ten thousand feet, where it makes a 
.small and beautiful tree ; at greater elevation it becomes a 
straggling bush. 

J. reliyiosa (the Pencil or Incense juniper). We believe 

there is no question of the hardihood of this 

Syn. _ _ 1 

J. escelsa. juniper; although no Indian conifer seems to 

[Peihaps the tall }iave been more confused than this specie^ 

Juniper of the 

American nur- We presume, however, that the J. exceha (the 
^®"®^-] Tall juniper) of our American nurseries is 

not properly the J. exceha of the Indian botanists, which is the 
true J. religiosa. The first is undoubtedly hardy, becoming a 
handsome, pyramidal tree, thirty to forty feet high ; a native of 
the islands in the Grecian Archipelago, Syria, Armenia, and 



THE NEWER EVERGKEEX ORNAMENTAL TREES. 505 

Georgia; the second is quite hardy with us; and we have no 
report i'rom any other place. It resembles very much the 
Chinese Juniper, and it is often confounded with Cupiessus 
tondosa. It obtains its name from its wood being burned in 
temples on festivals, and also from being used in cedar pencils. 

It is a native of Nepaul, where it rarely descends below an 
altitude of ten thousand feet ; above an elevation of fifteen 
thousand feet, it degenerates into a scraggy bush ; Avhile in 
favorable situations, it forms a large, magnificent tree of sixty 
to eighty feet. It gqts its name of relir/iosa from being usually 
employed for the Buddhist temples, and in their religious 
ceremonies. 

J. sabina (the Common savin), a low, loose-growing bush, 
not, as it strikes us, particularly handsome, growing six or 
seven feet high, and native of the Lower Alps, Appenines, and 
the Altain and Taurian mountains. There is another and 
prettier variety, J. s. variegates (Variegated savin), with its 
leaves curiously striped or blotched with yellow, and inter- 
mingling with the green, making a striking contrast. We 
have grown these many years without any protection. 

J. squamata (Scaly-leaved juniper), a large, procumbent, 

many branched shrub, growing four or five 

^y^- ^ , ,. feet hi":h, and very spreading, from the 

J. dumosa Lambertina. ° ' j i c 

mountains of Nepaul and the Bhotan Alps, 
also in Cashmere. It seems to thrive on the loftiest mountains 
at elevations of eleven, twelve, and even fifteen thousand feet, 
forming extensive beds or masses like carpets, covering im- 
mense spaces ; the foliage is a bright, vivid green, and large 
glossy, purplish black fruit. 

Tlie finest specimen we know in this country, and one of 
the most extraordinary and striking objects we ever saw among 
evergreens, is the J. squamata, at Woodlawn, N. J., Mr. 
Field's (Fig. 94), which was obtained from Mr. Buist, in Phi- 
ladelphia, in the spring of 1851 ; and though only seven years 
planted, is now a bush of twenty-nine feet in circumference, 
having one leading shoot which, after ascending perpendicu- 
larly four and a half to five feet, as suddenly descends again 
at an acute angle to the ground, resembling somewhat an 
elongated ox-bow, the lower branches radiating from the stem. 



506 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

and spreading in every direction with a marvellous profusion 
into a perfect circle. It is unquestionably hardy all over the 
colder portion, at least, of the United States. 



Pseudo-larix hoemferi. Golden or Chinese Larch. 

This properly belongs to the deciduous class of trees ; though 

when first sent to England by Mr. Fortune, 

'S'i/"- it was supposed to be a fir, and Mr. Lambert 

Abies kcemfcri. i i • i • -r, • •^^ 

pjjj^jg ^^ classed it among the pmes. It is still very 

rare and very expensive ; plants only two 
inches high costing seven dollars in England. We know of but 
one other specimen in this country, besides our own, which wag 
too small to venture out this winter, though we intend doing so 
next. It will, no doubt, prove hardy, coming as it does from 
the northern provinces of China. The leaves are a beautiful 
bright green, when young, but before autumn assume a fine 
golden yellow. There being no specimens in England over a 
foot high, we have no further description of this tree. 



Lihocedrus. Incense Cedar. 

This exquisite genus (for all the varieties are alike beautiful) 
is another of Mr. Endlicher's introductions from Chili and New 
Zealand. The name is derived from lihanos, incense, and 
cedrus, the cedar. It is found upon the Andes of Chili, where 
it grows to the height of sixty to eighty feet, and bears so close 
a resemblance to the arbor vitce, as, by many, to be classed with 
this tree, having the same pyramidal habit, thickly clothed with 
beautifully delicate, glaucous and light green imbricated leaves 
from its very base. 

There are but four varieties, three of which have been im- 
ported, by collectors of evergreens, into this country, viz. : 
Chiliensis, Doniana and decurrens, of which the first and last 
only approach to some hope of being acclimatized. 

L. Chiliensis, we have had several years. Our oldest plant 
survived three Avinters on an open lawn, protected simply by 



THE NEWEK EVEKGKEEN OKNAMENTAL TEEES. .^O"? 

cedar boujjhs, but was destroyed by the severe weather of '55-6, 
At Elizabethtown, N. J., there are specimens five feet high, 
and, it is reported to us, as nearly hardy there. At Washington, 
and on Long Island it has not been sufficiently tested to be 
pronounced upon. The only unqualified return of entire suc- 
cess is from Augusta, Ga., where it stands admirably and 
becomes one of their most lovely evergreens. 

L. Doniana (Don's arbor vitce) — even more than the pre- 
ceding resembles an arbor vita3, and is more 
'^^Thuja Doniana. generally known and sold as a Thuja than a 
Libocedriis ; it has the appearance of a most 
exquisite fern, being of a peculiarly soft yellowish green, and 
most delicate habit. There is no hope, we fear, of acclimatizing 
this beautiful variety, except, perhaps, in the Southern States ; 
but nothing can well be prettier or more attractive than this 
and the preceding variety (Z. Chiliensis), grown in pots or tubs. 

L. decurrens, the thii'd and last variety, being more properly 
an arbor vita?, has been removed to that genus, we shall there- 
fore describe it under its appropriate head of Thuja. 



Picea. The Silver Fir. 

In contradistinction to Abies, the Spruce fir is derived from 
pix (pitch) — this variety producing an abundance of resin, and 
having their cones erec^ and nearly cylindrical, while the cones 
of the Abies (Spruce fir) are pendant and persistent for a long 
time. They are found in Europe, Asia, and North America 
and are, we believe, without exception perfectly hardy in the 
middle and northern portions of the United States, and a very 
great addition to our ornamental evergreens. 

p. amabilis (the lovely Silver fir) — one of the latest addi- 
tions to this tribe of plants, still rare and very 
^■, . costly. There are no plants of any size in 

p. lasiocarpa. •' '■ J 

Pinus lasiocarpa. his country. It Stands well at Beach ClyflTe, 

the residence of Mr. Kane, at Newport, and 

also at Flushing, and we presume it may prove hardy at Boston. 

It is a magnificent tree in its native forests on the mountains 

of Northern California, reachin"; an altitude of two hundred 



508 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING. 

and fifty feet, with a nali.ed stem of sixty feet. It was discov- 
ered by Mr. Jeffrey. 

P. halsamea (the Bahii of Gilead fir), has ah-eady been des- 
cribed in the early edition of this woi'k, and is too well known 
as the common Balsam fir of the country to require further 
remarks. 

P. halsamea longifoUa, is a much finer and equally hardy 
variety, with longer leaves, introduced from Booth's nursery, at 
Hamburgh. 

P. halsamea variegaia — A variegated variety of our Com- 
mon balsam — pretty and hardy — the new growth being yellow ; 
though attractive in the spring, yet when the new shoots become 
ripened, the bright yellow becomes a little dingy, and we should 
hardly give it a prominent place in plantations. We have also 
a variety with a silvery instead of a golden variegation. 

P. Braeteata (Leafy-bracted Silver fir). — This is a very rare 

variety as yet in this country, and will probably 

^^I^C- T, ^ .. prove as hardy as P. AVebbiana, and, like it, be 

Abies Braeteata. i .' ; ; 7 

apt to lose its leader. It was discovered by 
Douglas on the mountains of Columbia river, and afterwards 
in Upper California. It is a tall, slender-growing tree, one 
hundred and twenty feet high, straight as an arrow, and only 
two or three feet in diameter ; sometimes only the upper third 
of the tree is clothed with branches. 

P. Cephalonica (Mount Enos fir). — This is perhaps one of 
the finest and most reliable of the new Silver firs. We have 
specimens eight and ten feet high, perfectly untouched by the 
remarkable winters of 1855-6, and without any advantages 
of position or protection. 

It is called the Wild cedar by the Greeks, and was first sent 
home by General Napier, when Governor of Cephalonia. It 
has since been discovered on the different mountains of Greece, 
on the Sacred Apollo, on Mount Parnassus, on Mount iEtna, and 
also on Mount Olympus ; it has, consequently, among its other 
merits, at least that of having early classical associations. A 
full grown tree is about sixty feet high. 

P. Frat>eri (Eraser's Silver fir) — A variety probably of our 
„ ^ common Balsam fir, a little lighter, we think, in 

Finns Fiaseri. color ; supposed to have originated in the moun- 
Abies do. tains of Carolina and Pennsylvania. Neither 



THE NEWER EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 509 

Carriere nor Gordon seem to place it anywhere else ; 
though Ave have trees sent to us from Vermont, by President 
Wheeler, of Burlington, which he thinks identical with the 
southern variety; and we must confess we quite coincide with 
him, though they may prove some sport of our ordinary double 
spruce. At any rate, both varieties are as hardy as possible. 

F. Fraseri Hudsonica (Hudson Bay Silver fir). — A pretty, 
flattish Dwarf variety of P. Fraseri, forming a dense close 
bush, never over three or four feet high, and, of course, a per- 
fectly hardy tree, coming, as it does, from the Hudson Bay 
Company's territories. 

P. nobilis (Noble Silver fir). — This supei'b variety well de- 
Syn. serves its name, reaching as it does an altitude of two 

Pinus nobilis. hundred feet, with regularly horizontal and spreading 
branches, and cinnamon-colored bark, forming im- 
mense forests upon the mountains of California. It M'as a dis- 
covery of Mr. Jeffrey, and proves unquestionably hardy wher- 
ever it has been tried. We have had it five or six years ; but 
our trees being raised from seed, instead of being grafted, were 
very small (three inches only) when planted, and are not over 
two to three feet high now ; and though fine in color and habit, 
do not yet show that grand characteristic which induced 
Mr. Downing, when in England, to describe it as the most ma- 
jestic of evergreens. At Elvaston Castle, there are speci- 
mens, says Mr. Buist (in his account of his visit to that 
remarkable place), finer than the Araucaria excelsa (the Nor- 
folk Island pine). It is perfectly hardy near Boston, at Flushing, 
New York, Baltimore, &c. ; and will prove equally so in all 
the middle portions, at least, of the United States. 

P. Nor-dmanniana (Nordmann's Silver fir). — Another superb 
Syn. Silver fir, quite as hardy as the preceding, 

Abies Nordmanniana. and as fine; indeed, we think even finer, 
when young. AVe have had it at Woden- 
ethe four or five years, and it has never suffered in our severest 
winters. It comes from the mountains of the Crimea, and 
reaches a growth of one hundred feet. 

P. pectinata (Common Silver fir). — A lofty tree, growing 
one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet high, found all over 
the Alps, and also on the Apennines and Pyrenees ; and yet, 



510 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING. 

strange to say, it is somewhat capricious in the United States, 
and among our returns, we find in many places it is apt to lose 
its leader. This we believe, however, only takes place in 
young, and consequently succulent plants, which, as they 
advance in age, acquire a habit of solidifying, as it were, their 
growth, and escape injury. We have specimens fifteen to 
eighteen feet high, which are very perfect, and never suffer. 
Tlie finest specimen we know in the country is one near 
Germantown, Pa. (Fig. 37.) 

P. peciinata pendula (Weeping Silver fir) — Is a dis- 
tinct and very rare variety of the Common Silver fir, which 
we had for many years — perfectly hardy, with peculiarly droop- 
ing branches. It is of French origin, we believe, 

P. peciinata variegata (Variegated Silver fir) — Is very 
similar (though distinct) to the P. Fraseri variegata ; hardy. 

P. pectinata nana (Dwarf Silver fir) — A pretty little shrub, 
quite hardy, and only growing two or three feet high. 

P. grandis (Great Silver fir). — Another of the grand dis- 
coveries of Mr. Jeffrey, on Fraser's River — a superb tree, 
growing to the height of two hundred and eighty feet, and 
resembling in its character and habits the Common Silver fir, 
but much finer and more gigantic. Our specimens are only 
eight to ten inches high, and we do not know of any others in 
the country any or much larger; and although from its des- 
cription we have every reason to suppose it will prove hardy, 
still we have no authority for saying so. The tree is still too 
young and costly (two guineas each), to make the attempt 
quite yet. The only report of it is from Washington, Avhere 
there are plants in Mr. Corcoran's grounds, two feet high, per- 
fectly hardy. 

P.pichta (Pitch or Siberian Silver fir). — Although this tree 
^„„ does not become so majestic as the preceding, 

p. Siberica. yet it is a remarkably fine variety, and well 

worthy extensive cultivation. It is perfectly hardy, and has a 
superb luxuriant growth, which is most refreshing. It is not 
very unlike a very fine Balsam fir, though much denser, softer, 
and deeper foliage. It is found in the mountains of Siberia 
and Altai, and rarely exceeds twenty-five to thirty feet. There 



THIL NEWER EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 511 

is another variety, with longer and more glaucous leaves, called 
P. longifoUa. 

1\ Pindrow (Upright Indian Silver fir)— A fine tree, grow- 
Syn. inor from eighty to one hundred feet, and 

Ta'i;:IatS;na. found OH the mountains of Bootan, at an 
elevation of eleven to twelve thousand feet. In this country, 
this variety has been constantly confounded with P. Webhlana, 
which it so closely resembles as to require the nicest scrutiny 
to detect the difference. It also, like the Webbiana, suffers 
from losing its leader, and on this account, even in England, it 
is recommended to be planted on the north of woods or build- 
ings; with this protection it may be classed as tolerably 
hardy. * 

P. Pinsapo (Pinsapo fir).— This is a Spanish fir, very dis- 
^^.^ tinctive, and perfectly hardy everywhere, as 

Abies Pinsapo. far as tried. Our best specimen is ten feet 
Pinus do. j^jgj^^ ^^^ exceedingly fine, being as regular 

and symmetrical as the Balsam fir. Its greatest altitude 
is seventy to eighty feet. It is found in Spain, on the moun- 
tains between Ronda and Malaga ; also in Granada, and on the 
jighest parts of the Sierra de la Nieve— even near the summits, 
where snow lies at least five months in the year. 

P. Webbiana (Webb's Indian fir)— A superb tree, growing 
from seventy to eighty feet high ; discovered on 
'^^rwesspectabiiis. the Ilimmalayas above an elevation of ten thou- 
A. densa. sand, and Dr. Hooker found it in Sikkin at an 

Pinus stria a, e c. ^^^^,^j. j^^ ^^ thirteen thousand feet. A beauti- 
ful dye of an exquisite violet tint is extracted from the cones, 
whence the name by which it is known in this country, '-Webb's 
Purple coned fir :" like P. Pmdroio, it suffers in its leader, if ex- 
posed, but does pretty well in a wood. 



Pinus. The Pine. 
Of this, the largest and most important family of evergreens, 
there are, at present, known and cultivated in England and in 
collections on the Continent, about sixty varieties ; twenty-four 
of whi(;h have proved hardy in the United States, or, at least, 
in our portion of it on the Hudson River-and there are a few 



512 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

more, besides, which may possij^ly become acclimatized iu a 
few years. Six of these have already been described by Mr. 
Downing, in his early editions, leaving a gain of eighteen new 
varieties — a great many for so valuable a genus, and in so short 
a time as ten years. 

In our Soutliern States, the whole sixty varieties now known 
abroad, could undoubtedly be grown with entire success ; we 
therefore propose, in describing the twenty-four varieties which 
we have ourselves tested, to give some brief mention of the 
most prominent and desirable of the others, which at the North 
can only be cultivated in tubs, and kept in green-houses during 
the winter. 

P. auslralis (Southern pine). — This superb tree, more com- 
monly known as the Georgia pine, is found from 

byn. •' . . 

P. Palustris, Virginia to Georgia, growing to the height of 
P. Georgiea. gjxty to Seventy feet, with a bright green foliage* 
nearly a foot long in young plants. We have great hope that 
this tree may be acclimatized here. In Philadelphia, Mr. 
Buist regards it as hardy ; at Elizabethtown it succeeds when 
sheltered by evergreens, there being specimens there six feet 
high. There is anotlier variety, with much longer leaves, and 
said to be much hardier, withstanding the coldest weather in 
Germany, and coming from the northwest coast of America, 
which would, no doubt, prove entirely hardy, since it was 
raised, as we believe, from seed in Messrs. Booths' nurseries 
at Hamburgh, where we remember we were informed peach 
trees would not stand. 

P. Apulcensls (Apulco pine). — This variety, from the Tal- 
lies -of Mexico, is likely to prove too tender for any but our 
Southern States ; it reaches a height of forty to fifty feet. 

P. Ayacahnite (Ayacahnite pine). — 'This pretty and effec- 
tive pine, with a soft, vivid foliage, has been out with us, two or 
three years, in a sheltered position, and seems tolerably hardy ; 
it somewhat resembles our native White pine, only is much softer 
and brighter. It is from the mountains of Mexico. 

P. Auotriaca (Austrian pine). — This valuable tree, perfectly 

g^ji hardy everywhere, is found on the mountains in 

•'• nigra, Austria, Styria, Transylvania, &e., and reaches a 

height of one hundred to one hundred and twenty 



THE NEWER EVEKGKEEN OKNAMENTAL TEEE8. 513 

feet. Take it all in all, we do not know a finer or more avail- 
able evergreen. It grows in any soil and has a strong, ram- 
pant, healthy look, which is positively refreshing when sur- 
rounded by its more delicate companions, the half-hardy ones 
It is very rapid in its progress, and has a firm, stocky growth, 
retaining its fine green color during our hottest summers and 
coldest winters. In Austria it is very much esteemed for 
charcoal, and the wood is said to resist the alternations oi 
moisture and dryness better, even, than the Larch. By some, il 
is supposed to be only a variety of lariclo. 

P. Banksiana (Sir Joseph Banks' pine) — Is a stunted, 

scrubby, straggling bush, from five to ten feel 
^p' Hudsonica. kighj in good '"^oil it reaches, sometimes, fifteen 

feet. It is found in the most northern parts ol 
North America, in Maine, Nova Scotia, Labrador, &;c., and is 
only valuable to complete a collection. 

P. Beardsleyi. — We are inclined to think both these trees 

are identical, and are synonymous with P. fon- 
^'^J!;- . derosa, though they are sold as distinct in the 

p. Craigeana. ' ° •' 

English nurseries, and in ours also. They belong 
to what are called the "Long-leaved Californians," such as 
Benthamiana, Ponderosa, Macrocarpa, &c., and when young, 
they resemble each other so closely that we must confess we 
are puzzled to tell them apart, and are not surprised at the con- 
fusion. Carriere, in his liistoire General des Coniferes, makes 
Beardsleyi a distinct variety, but does not describe it, merely 
saying, it was introduced in seed in 1855, from North America; 
but Gordon, who seems the more thorough as well as the latest 
writer, regards them as synonyms of Ponderosa. In the 
absence of any more light, or until the trees get larger, so as 
to show the difference, if it exists, we shall adopt this classifi- 
cation, and refer our readers to our subsequent description of 
Ponderosa, for what may prove, presently, to answer for these 
trees. 

P. Bmthamiana (Bentham's pine). — This superb tree, said 

to be the grandest of the '• Long-leaved Califor- 

^'•'^\. , . . nians," was found by Mr. Hartweg, on the moun- 

P. Sinclam. ' •' . 

tains of Vera Cruz, where he discovered specimens 
two hundred to two hundred and twenty feet high, with stems 

33 



514 LANDSCAPK GAEDENING. 

twenty-eight feet in circumference. It seems peculiarly a 
mountain pine, flourishing above the region of P. Sabiniana, 
and in the greatest abundance, near Monterey, and on the 
mountains above Bear Creek. The timber is said to be the 
most valuable of the pines, though at five dollars apiece for 
small plants eight to twelve inches high, we are not likely to 
test this excellence for some years. It proves very hardy at 
AVodenethe. Our specimens, but slightly protected, have stood 
for three years without injury. 

It is also hardy at " Wellesley," near Boston, the residence 
of Mr. Hunnewell. In the public grounds at Washington, 
there are fine specimens three and four feet high. At Yorkville, 
it is hardy, though the plants being very small, are often under 
the snow. At Flushing, on the contrary, it is returned ''not 
hardy," and it may belong to those pines which do not flourish 
near the sea. Being still very rare and costly, it has not yet 
been much planted. 

P. Brutia (Calabrian Cluster pine). — A fine lofty tree of 
si.vty to seventy feet, and bright green foliage, 

„■ , . with spreading head, found in Calabria, and 

P. conglomerata. i o ' 

closely resembling P. Jlalepcnsis (the Aleppo 
pine). It is not unlike, in its general appearance, some of the 
numerous varieties of Maritima ; it proves perfectly hardy with 
us, having been out several winters. 

P. CanarienHS (Canary Island pine). — A charming, grace- 
ful, slender pine, with long pendulous leaves, growing seventy 
to eighty feet, in its own country, but too tender for any thing 
but pot-culture here, tiiough it might do at the extreme South. 
P. Cemhra (Swiss Stone pine). — All travellers who have 
crossed Mount Cenis and the Tyrol, must have 
p. Helvetica. been Struck with the. vast forests of this tree, 

p. montana, &c. -which abound in those stupendous regions. It 
is the pine of the Alps ; and as such must prove hardy anywhere 
at the North. It grows about fifty feet high, but very slowly, 
though always forming a pretty, compact tree. There are many 
synonyms, and two varieties ; the Siberian Stone pine, with 
shorter, denser, and greener leaves, and the Dwarf Cembran 
pine, found on the rocks of the Ural Mountains. The seeds of 
all three of these varieties are eatable. 



THE NEWER EVERGREEN ORXAilENTAL TREES. 515 

P. Devoniana (Duke of Devonshire pine) — A fine, delicate, 

pendulous tree, with a charming green foliage, re- 

^^"' <;emblinf^ very much our P. palustris — called 

p. Blanco. o ./ ... 

also, Pino real, or Royal pine, from its majestic 
character. It is from Mexico, growing 80 feet high — tolerably- 
hardy in England, and perhaps in our Southern States, but too 
tender for us at the North, except for pot-culture. 

P. exceha (Lofty Bhotan pine).— We hardly know what 
to say of this splendid tree, called by Mr. 
^^v. pendnla. Downing, that " affectedly pretty pine." It is 

p. Xepaiensis. universally returned to us as hardy, from all 
*'■' "^ parts of the country, though sometimes suffer- 

ing from sun in summer. Near Boston, this is the case, and at 
Natchez, where plants have to be shaded from the summer 
sun. Mr. Barry writes us from Rochester, it is hardy there, 
but will not make an old tree. Our own trees at Wodenethe, 
which perhaps are some of the oldest in the country, being, or 
rather having been, sixteen and eighteen feet high, certainly 
suffer from sun and not cold. The winter of '55 and '56, which de- 
stroyed some and damaged many other white pines here, and even 
road-side cedars, produced no effect upon this tree, which was 
entirely unprotected and uninjured ; and yet often in midsum- 
mer, it will become ruptured in its leading shoots, and die 
back. This may be on the prhiciple of the frozen sap-blast 
in fruit trees, where the damage done in winter, does not de- 
velope the injury before the succeeding summer ; but we are more 
inclined to believe, that the tree, if planted in rich holes, over- 
grows, and a sort of apoplexy supervenes. We form this theory^ 
from observing that, where a great redundancy of growth has 
taken place, and the leading shoot is three or four feet long 
and extremely succulent, this rupture is most often the result, 
when the sun being hot, activity of circulation is excessive ; 
when, however, the exuberance of growth is checked by poor, 
thin soil, the tree grows enough, and seems to mature its wood 
as it advances through the summer — at any rate sutHcient to 
withstand what might be called determination of sap to the 
head ; so that in future we shall always plant Excelsas in poor 
soil. The variety itself is found in Nepaul, in the mountains, 
and in Bhotan, above the region of the Deodar. It reaches a 



516 LANDSCAPE GAIiDENING. 

height of one hundred and fifty feet. It is sometimes called 
the Himalayan Weeping fir. Take it all in all, it has been the 
greatest favorite, and the most successful of all the new coni- 
fers — having a charmingly graceful habit, and soft, pretty glau- 
cous foliage. 

P. filifolia (Thread-leaved pine). — Certainly this and P. 

patula are the most delicate and graceful of pines, 

^* .. exquisite for pot-culture, but too tender for any 

portion of this country, except the extreme South. 

It is a native of Guatemala, growing there to the height of 

forty to sixty feet, and resembling very much our Georgia pine 

[P. 2^(thtsfris), with its long, beautiful, thready leaves, twelve to 

fourteen inches in length. 

P. Jiexilis (Contorted-branched pine). — This curious tree 
was found by Mr. JeflTery, at an elevation of nine thousand 
feet, and even fourteen thousand, in the neighborhood of 
Fraser's river, where it makes a small tree of forty feet high, 
with a peculiarly flattened head ; and on the highest portion of 
the mountain, where it degenerates into a shrub of only three 
feet high, it becomes so compact that a person may walk on 
the top of it. It has not been introduced here yet, and hardly 
into England ; but from its being found so near the snow-line, 
we should suppose it might prove hardy. 

P. Fremontiana (Colonel Fremont's pine). — This pine was 
gy^^ discovered by Col. Fremont, during his explor- 

P. monophylla. ing expedition, when crossing the Sierra Nevada, 
growing on both sides, extending over the top 
of that great, snowy chain. It does not reach a size of over 
twenty feet, is very spreading in its habits, and will probably 
prove perfectly hardy in this country, since Col. Fremont often 
found the thermometer at two degrees below zero, at night, and 
four feet of snow where the tree grew. The seeds are eatable, 
and are quite an article of commerce with the Indians, in the 
season, under name of Nut pine. 

P. Gerardiana (Gerard's pine). — A slow-growing but vigor- 
ous variety from the mountain of Kunawar, in 
p. Ncoza. India, reaching the height of fifty feet, and 

p. Auckiandii. forming a close, compact head ; the leaves of 
° ' these are stiff, and of a bluish green. We had this 



THE NEWER EVERGKEEN ORNAIVIENTAL TREES. 517 

twelve years ago as (if we are not mistaken) " Tiie Short-leaverl 
Weymouth," which we never thought correct, but there was so 
little to distinguish it from an ordinary pine that we replaced 
it by something more valuable. It was perfectly hardy. 

P. Halepensis (Aleppo, or Jerusalem pine). — This variety 

resembles the Bi'utia (which we have 

P. Hicrosoiymitana. already described) so much as to be often 

P. genuensis. ^^-^^ f^^. j^^ ^y^ cannot quite, as yet, make 

up our mind whether it will stand our climate here, or not. It 
does very well in a wood, and a specimen more exposed, does 
equally well, ^f it is true ; but the resemblance to Brutia is so 
great that it maybe this variety; Maritima is often confounded 
with it. Messrs. Ilovey, in Boston, report it as hardy and fine 
there ; but their plants, like ours, may prove Brutias, or some- 
thing else. It is found on the east and west sides of the 
Apennines, and in Sicily, among the rocks in Lybia, and in 
Greece, growing to be a tree of thirty feet, 

P. Hartioegii (Hartweg's pine). — This is a fine variety that 

we remember to have struck us very forcibly ten 
Syn. 
P. resinosa. years ago, in England (when very small), from 
p. standishi. j.|^g ^^^^^ dcnsB color of the foliage. It is one of 
the Mexican pines, forty to fifty feet high, and beginning on 
the mountains at ten thousand feet elevation, where the Picea 
relif^iosa ceases. We have tried it for several years with but 
indifferent success, and have abandoned it as too tender for any 
climate north of Virginia. It is too coarse for pots. 

P. inops (The New Jersey pine). — This variety, too well 
g known to need description, is found from Carolina 

P. variabilis, to the Hudson River, but does, we think, extend 
beyond it. It has a spreading top, and is thirty to forty feet 
hi"h, and, of course, must be planted in collections, though 
hardly otherwise would be selected by the amateur. 

P. insignis (the Remarkable pine). — We regret that this 

„ certainly most beautiful pine will not 

p. Caiifornica, of Loisel. resist our winters, even in a wood ; 

P.minteragensis. i\,oxxg\l it will, no doubt, do well and 

prove a very great acquisition in our Southern States. It is so 
attractive in its appearance, that it was one of the earliest of 
the new conifers tried here, but without any success. It is 



518 LANDSCArE GARDENING. 

found in many portions of California, growing to the height of 
eighty to one hundred feet. 

F. Jeffreiji (.Jeffrey's pine). — "We doubt if this has been 
tried at all in this country yet. Our own plants are extremely 
small, and not yet out. It is a majestic tree, one hundred and 
fifty feet high, from Northern California. 

P. Lamhertiana (Lambert's pine). — This superb variety, reach- 
ing an altitude of one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet, 
and twenty to sixty feet in girth near the ground, is from the 
northern parts of California ; and is, without doubt, perfectly 
hardy in this latitude. Our plants have escaped injury the 
severe winters of '55 and 'oG. Our reports from Boston, Flush- 
ing, New Jersey, and Washington all coincide as to its hardi- 
hood ; so that we may place this among the "sf//e trees." Its 
resemblance to the Piniis strobus (White pine) has been stated 
as an objection, but it might resemble a worse tree ; besides, 
we do not think this is quite so. To us it is very distinctive ; and 
it has long been a great favorite with us for its fine, deep green, 
and vigorous, healthy habit. It has this merit, to say the least, 
even if its character is not as marked as many of the less ro- 
bust pines. 

P. laricio (the Corsican pine). — This tree with many syn- 
Syn. onyms, is a native, as its name im- 

P. maritima. jj^ ^^ Corsica, though found also in 

r. Corsicana pyramidalis, &c. ' . 

Europe, Greece, and Spain ; and is the 
great tree upon Mount ^tna, growing rapidly to a height of 
eighty to one hundi'ed and thirty feet. It is quite as hardy as 
Lambertiana, or Austriaca, all over the country, having some- 
what the robust habit of the latter, only a less vivid green. 
Some of our specimens of this variety made leading shoots last 
year of five feet. 

P. I. C(dahrica (the Calabrian pine), P. I. Caramanka (the 
Caramanian pine), P. L ivj(jma:a (the Dwarf Corsican), and 
P. I. contoita (the Twisted Corsican), are only varieties. 

P. leioplujUa (the Smooth-leaved Mexican pine). — A large 
tree, with an irregular open head, vertical branches, and droop- 
ing foliage, growing sixty to one hundred feet high ; from the 
mountains of Angangueo, in Mexico, and is called by the na- 
tives " Ocote Chino," from its abundance of resin, and being 



THE NEWEIl EVEKGREEN OENAMENTAL TEEES. 519 

used for torches and candles. The wood is so hard, as tc 
resist the plane. The tree is too tender for the Middle States, 
but would doubtless succeed south of Virginia. 

P. Lindkyana (Dr. Lindley's pine). — This variety, often con- 
gyji_ founded with Montezuma^, and as such, imported 

P. Montezumae. \^y ug some year or so ago, is really quite dis- 
tinct, and is a robust, bushy looking tree of forty feet; ibund 
near the " Sumate," on the mountains of Mexico. It Avill, no 
doubt, prove hardy, coming from so high an elevation. We do 
not know that it has as yet been tried, nor do we think it very 
desirable, except in very full collections. 

P. lonr/ifoUa (the Long-leaved pine). — This is one of the 
Sijn. class of exquisite pines, of which P. jillfoUa, 

p. serenagensis. patula, Canariends, and even Australia are also 
representatives. Tliey are all, except Australis (Palustris), too 
tender even for the climate of Great Britain, and will not of 
course do at all here, except in Georgia, the Carolinas, and our 
Southern States, where no greater addition to ornamental plan- 
tations can be made ; they are charming for pot-cuUure with 
us, Avhich is the only way they grow tliem in England gene- 
rally. The timber of Longifolia is excellent, and full of resin, 
which is another recommendation for the South. The foliage 
is of an exquisite light green, and the leaves, twelve to fourteen 
inches long, delicate and thready. 

It comes from the lower ranges of the Himmalayan moun- 
tains, from Bootan to Affghan, growing forty to one hundred 
feet high, with a peculiar spiral arrangement of bark and fibre, 
like a cork-screw. 

The chips are used in India for candles, and are called 
" Chamsing" (night lights). According to Dr. Hooker, ink is 
made in Sikkin from the charcoal of the burnt leaves mixed 
with water. It is also remarkable for its fragrance. 

P. macrocarpa (Dr Coulter's pine). — This is a grand tree, 
^iin- which we have had several years under each of 

P.Sabiniana. ^^^^ above names ; though now we believe culti- 
P. macrocarpa. yators have Settled down upon macrocarpa and 
CouUeri, as the proper ones. "^Our best specimens would have 
been eight to ten feet high, having worked through the winters 
of '55 and '6Q, with very trifling injury, when, unfortunately, 



520 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING. 

all the terminal buds were eaten off by sheep ; and though the trees 
might have stood climate alone, yet they were unable to resist 
both climate and sheep, and they consequently perished. It has 
rugged, stiff leaves, ten or twelve inches long, and becomes a very 
striking tree, eighty to one hundred feet high ; from the moun- 
tains of Santa Lucia, in California, at an elevation of three or 
four thousand feet. 

P. macrophylla (the Long-leaved Mexican). — An uncom- 
Sr/n. monly fine variety, which we lost in the winter of 

P. Leroyi. 1855, in a very exposed situation, though we are 
not prepared to say it would have stood better in a protected 
one. It is a very sti-iking tree, from one of the highest moun- 
tains of Mexico, growing twenty to thirty feet high, with a fine, 
ample foliage, fifteen inches long. It is almost too stout and 
coarse for pot-culture, but would be very ornamental at the 
South, where it would grow perfectly well. 

P. maritima (the Maritime pine). — This tree, so called and 
so sold in our nurseries, is simply a nurseryman's name, there 
really being no such tree. It is very curious, but nevertheless 
true, that the greatest confusion prevails, both in the English 
and French nurseries, about this variety. In England, it is 
confounded often with P. pinaster, Halepensis, and Laricio ; 
and in France, with Pallasiana, Pithyusa (Halepensis), Lari- 
cio, and Pyrenaica, and made synonymous with each ; and in 
this country, it seems to represent any thing which is un- 
known. 

The specimens we have seen in our neighborhood as Mariti- 
ma, are probably Calabrica — a sub-variety of Laricio — and, we 
think, most Maritimas in our nurseries are Laricio or Pinaster. 
Representing, as it does, so many different trees, it is difficult 
to get any reputation about it which is to be depended on. In 
Boston, it is returned to us as tender, from which we assume 
that the variety there may be Pinaster, which is sometimes 
tender here ; while at Rochester, it is reported hardy, and may 
be Calabrica, or one of the hard)^ synonyms. At AVashington, 
the variety known as Maritima does well, and also at Eliza- 
bethtown ; but what these trees really are at these two places, 
we have no means of knowing, except that they are not Mari- 
timas. 




L^T'^ ^^^^^^^^T^^SiL^^!? 




TUE KEWER EVEKGUEEX ORNAMENTAL TKEES. 521 

P. mitis (Yellow pine j.— This well-known variety, so com- 

s>jn- ixion once in many portions of the United States, re- 

p. variabilis. •j.^g ^^ description. It has been singularly con- 

P fng/Jo ^ ••111 

P. royie'i. founded with many other varieties, and has only 
p. lutea. recently been distributed by the East India Com- 
pany, as a new species, under the name of P. roylei, which 
farther experience shows clearly was the common American 
yellow pine. 

P. monticola (the Mountain pine).— We have had this tree 
p. Lambcrtiana. out for Several years. It is quite as hardy as 
p. brevifoiia. ^ur White pine, and so closely resembling it as 

hardly to pass as distinct. It grows as tall as the White pine, 
but has a denser head, and shorter and more glaucous foliage- 
found on Trinity Mountain, in Northern California. 

P. Muntezuma (Montezuma Mexican pine). — This fine 
variety has stood out with us several winters, though somewhat 
protected. It is found on the mountains of Mexico, at an 
elevation of eleven thousand feet, growing forty to sixty feet 
high, with a spreading head. This does not appear as yet to 
l)e in any of the American collections besides our own. 

P. Mugho (the Mugan pine).— A small tree, thirty feet high, 

p. syivestris Mugbo. from the Alps, perfectly hardy everywhere, 

p.Mugbus. but not very attractive. There are four 

varieties, all small, and Mugho nana (Knee pine), not more 

than tliree feet high. 

P. nivea (the Snow pine)— Is only a variety of our common 
White pine (P. strohus), with the under part of the leaves, 
silvery — quite as hardy as its parent. 

P. pabistris. — We have already described as Australis. 
P. patitla (the Wide-spreading Mexican pine).— Of all the 
pines which we have ever seen, this is beyond measure the 
most graceful and charming, not only in its growth and habit,— 
a representation of which is given in Fig. 95 — but in the 
nature, softness, and color of ,its leaves. It resembles a 
beautiful, delicate green fountain of spun glass, and has a parti- 
color, like shot-silk, which catches the sunlight almost like a 
kaleidoscope. The leaves resemble the silk of maize, being 
as soft and delicate, and not unlike it in color. Although 
found in the colder regions of Mexico, on the Real del Monte 



522 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

mountains, it has not the appearance of being hardy, and we 
have not yet attempted to acclimatize it — having but two plants, 
which are quite beautiful enough for pot-culture to satisfy any- 
body. It would unquestionably grow at the South. We have 
no reports about it, and know but one other specimen in the 
country, which is at Wellesley, near Boston, grown, like ours, 
in a pot. There are two other varieties, P.jjatida stricta (more 
erect), and P. patula viacrocarpa (much larger and taller) ; 
neither, we think, in this country. 

P. pinaster (Star or Cluster pine.) — This fine tree, which, 

when first introduced, and before thoroughly 

^y'^' ,^ •, . tested, promised to be the most artistic of pines 

P. A epalensis. ' ^ ^ 

P. maiitima. (at least of available pines) — doing for our 

p. Japonica, landscape what P. plnea (the Stone pine) did 

seven others. foi' Claude in the Italian Landscape — has, in 

our latitude, proved itself a little questiona- 
ble. It will certainly stand uninjured our ordinary winters ; 
but such uncommon ones as those of 185o-G, when, with us, 
the mercury sank to twenty degrees below zero, destroyed, at 
"VVodenethe, specimens eighteen and twenty feet high, and this 
seems the experience of our returns. 

It is a most admirable tree for planting near the sea-shore, 
where it thrives wherever the climate will permit, and is to be 
found all along the Cornish road, bordering the Mediterranean, in 
Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Japan, New Holland. Fi-om 
the facility with which it flourishes near the sefi, it received its 
synonym of marltima. No doubt P. pinaster HamiUonii, 
Lemohiana^ minor varlegata, are varieties. 

P. pohderosa (the Heavy-wooded pine.) — The hardiest., we 

should say, of all pines, not excepting our na- 

^y^- tive AYhite pine, and iho, fastest grower. We have 

p. Craigeana. . . . r t • ^ • ^ 

P. Beardsieji. ^ specunon. Sixteen to eighteen leet high, raised 
from seed in less than seven years. This va- 
riety is gigantic in every sense of the word ; the new shoots 
are two or three times as thick as those of our White pine, and 
same with the buds. The annual leading shoots exceed a 
yard. It is from the Northwest coast of America and Califor- 
nia, where it grows one hundred feet high Although a strik- 



THE NEWER EVEEGKEEiSr ORNAMENTAL TREES. 523 

ing, it is not a handsome tree, the interval between the tiers of 
branches being so wide and the foliage so coarse and sparse, 
as to give it a thin and naked look ; besides which, it has 
an ugly habit of working the crown of the root out of ground, 
so as to give the tree the appearance of insecurity. Our tree, 
though eighteen feet high, and grown from seed where it stands, 
still requires, or seems to require, support. It is, of course, 
hardy all over the United States — at least, we doubt if any 
cold will affect it, though it might suffer from sun in the ex- 
treme South. 

P. Pullasiana Tuurica (Taurian pine.) — A large tree, seventy 
to eighty feet high, found as yet only in the Crimea and along 
the coast of the Black Sea. We have specimens wiiich have 
been out several years without protection ; perfectly hardy, 
though not very distinctive, as it resembles exceedingly our 
White pine. 

P. pumilis (the Mountain pine.) — A remarkably stiff, un- 
graceful dwarf, resembling the Scotch fir — in 
Syn. ° . . 

P. Tartarian, Some favorable situations, becoming a tree thirty 

'^°- feet high, but genei'ally only a low, straggling, 

slow-growing bush. It is very common on the Alps and the 
Cai-patliian Mountains; perfectly hardy. 

P. pinea (Italian Stone pine). — No one, we think, who has 
'S'2/"- ever been to Rome, Avill have forgotten the 

p'. domestica. Colonna pine, which, together with St. Peter's, 
P. arctica, &c. divided one's enthusiasm, at the first sight of the 
eternal city. This superb object, rising abruptly from the midst 
of the Colonna gardens, is so much associated in our early recol- 
lections, with all views of Rome, that now it is gone,* it would 
really seem as if we had lost an old friend. It is the great 
tree of Claude, and all the old masters, and no Italian garden 
would seem quite perfect without it. It is generally, we think, 
too tender for this climate, though suited well to the South. 
We have tried many times to acclimatize it ; but though it 
may struggle on for a few years, yet it never would form, pro- 
Dably, the picturesque tree, so valuable for the composition of 
certain landscape effects. 

* Blown down in 1851. 



524 LANDSCArE GAKDENING. 

P. Pyrenaica (Pyrenean pine). — A very hardy, robust 

Syn. variety from the Pyrenees, perfectly hardy 

P. iiispamca. \\\i\\ us, havinsf survived several winters ; 

p. Mouspeliensis. " 

P. laricio, and but, like P. nivea and P. Pallasiana, too 

nine others. much resembling our native White pine to 

be very distinctive. 

P. racUuta (Radiated-cone pine). — This tree, from Upper 
California, is one of Dr. Coulter's introductions, closely resem- 
bling the P. insignis ; but, being a little denser and stouter, 
may prove hardier. It seems to thrive near the sea-shore ; 
the specimen found by Dr. Coulter being one hundred feet 
high, with a straight stem, feathered to the ground. The wood 
is much used at Monterey for boat-building. Not to our 
knowledge introduced here yet. 

P. rigida (Stiff-leaved pine). — Another of our " Native 

Syn. Americans," extending throughout the 

P. Canadensis-trifoiia. ^^ij^ig ^f jj^^ United States, as for north 

as Brunswick, in Maine. Not desirable, except to complete 

collections. 

P. resinosa (Red pine). — An American tree, principally 
Syn. found in Canada and Nova Scotia ; not very unlike 

p. rubra, &c. ^^jjg Corsican. It abounds in resin, and is esteemed 
for its strength and durability. 

P, Sahiniana (Sabine's pine). — This majestic tree — from the 
Cordilleras of Mexico, where it grows to the height of one 
hundred and fifty feet — is very distinctive, and, we believe, will 
prove hardy. Our trees have been out since the severe winters 
of 1855-'56, and stand in a protected place thus far very well. 
The tone of the foliage is peculiarly soft and pleasing, being 
of a light glaucous color. 

P. strobus (White or AVeymouth pine). — A description of this 
well-known tree will be found in the first part of the book, under 
Mr. Downing's section on evergreen trees. 

P. sylvestris (Scotch fir). — This valuable variety is also too 
well known to require description or even mention, beyond the 
fact that, take it all in all, it is perhaps the most important of 
all foreign pines. It is perfectly hardy everywhere in this 
country, and in Europe, where it is cultivated under twenty 
different names. ]t is not a beautiful tree, though it assumes, 



THE NEWER EVEJBGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 525 

with age, a pood many picturesque forms. It is very cheap — • 
phints, two or three feet high, can be imported from tlie Eng- 
lish nurseries, at three or four doUars the hundred — and very 
valuable as a hack tree for planting out disagreeable objects 
and making screens. There are a good many varieties ; among 
them are, Variegata, whicli is with us as hardy as Sylvestris, 
having a golden stripe or blotch on tlie leaves ; Pygmea, a 
dwarf, of two feet or so ; Argentea, a silver-leaved variety. 
P. iceda (Loblolly pine). — Another of our native trees, 

found from Florida to Virginia, forming a tree 

Syn. . 

P. Virginiaiia. of eighty feet high, with a spreading head. This 
P. Pennifoiia. jj also Called the Frankincense pine, and is dis- 
tinguished by its delightful aroma. 

P. tubercidata (Tuberculated-cone pine). — We have but 
Syn^ lately had this variety, and by its synonymous 

p. Caiifornica. name [Calif omica) . It was discovered by Dr. 
Coulter, immediately on the beach, near Monterey, and after- 
wards was found on the Santa Cruz mountains, by Mr. Hart- 
vveg. Mr. Jeffrey, also, found it on an elevation of live thou- 
sand feet. It is said to be slow-growing, reaching a height of 
forty feet. Our specimens, so far, resemble P. Sabiniana. We 
have no reports about it, and never saw any other specimens 
except our own. 



PODOCARPUS. 

This comparatively rare genus obtains its name from two 
Greek words, •ffov^, a foot, and Kap^oj, a fruit ; and is found in 
Asia, Africa and America, and may be anglicised into the 
Fruit foot-stalked yew, from which it seems only slightly dif- 
fering, many varieties being sold as Taxus (Yew), instead of 
Podocarpus. There are about ninety varieties introduced into 
the collections on the Continent and in England ; a great many 
of these are very tender, even abroad, and we do not, as yet, 
find more than four which promise at all well for this country. 

Of these, P. Japonica (Japan podocarpus), seems the best 
known as yet, and tlie hardiest. It is a small tree, from Japan, 
where it abounds, and is not very unlike Taxus Hibernica (the 
Irish yew), only with a broader and, perhaps, flatter leaf; our 



526 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING. 

specimens have been through two winters without any injury 
— it is certainly witli us quite as hardy as the Irish yew. It 
is reported to us as hardy at Flusliing and at two different 
places in Georgia, but being new and costly it has not as yet 
been tried anywhere else. 

P. Andlna (The Andes podocarpus). — Another pretty, small 
gyn^ tree, ten to twenty feet high, from the Alpine 

P. Taxus spicata. regions of South Chili, with a broader and 
more leathery leaf than the preceding variety ; our specimen 
is out, for first time, this winter, and we Jiave but one return 
about it, which is from Augusta, and is satisfactory. 

P. coriacea (Leathery -leaved podocarpus). — This variety 
gyn_ comes from the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, 

Taxus lancifoiia. f^nj also the Antilles, growing fifty feet high. 
We have more doubt about this than the two above, and we 
have but one return, from Flushing, L. I., where it is marked 
" hardy." 

P. taxifolui (Yew-leaved podocarpus). — There is no question 

^y„ we think, of the hardihood of this variety 

Taxus montana. "\Ye have had it out three years without 

oueya urn o . injury. It resembles still more the Irish 
yew, than P. Japonica. It comes from the mountains of Peru, 
at an elevation of eight thousand feet, where it is a tree of 
sixty feet. We have no returns. 

There is one other variety, not yet received into this country, 
to our knowledge, which promises better than any of the above, 
viz. : Podocarpus Nuhigena, which is described as one of the 
finest, as it is unquestionably one of the hardiest and most dis- 
tinct, of all the conifers introduced within a few years. It is a 
native of Patagonia and is found also on the Andes, near the 
Araucaria imbricata, which tree it much resembles — the 
branches being produced at regular distances like it. 



Saxe Gothoea conspicua. PraNCE Albert's Yew. 

Syn. Taxus Patagonica. 

A genus by itself, and this the only species ; a small bush or 
tree found on the mountains of Patagonia, growing thirty feet 
high, with very much the habit and appearance of the common 



TIJE ]S"EWEK EVEUGKEEX OUNAMENTAL TKEES. 527 

yew, but not so fine a color. "We have no report about it in this 
country, iind pi'esume it will, at the North, at least, have to be 
grown in tubs, though we have a specimen out this winter. 



Sequoia sempervirens. California Red Wood. 

Better known here as Taxodium sempervirens. Found in the 
northwest part of North America, forming a majestic tree two 
hundred to three hundred feet high, and often confounded with 
Washington ia gigantea, quite a different thing ; the foliage of 
the Sequoia being flat, two-rowed, and dark green, while that of 
Washingtonia is needle-shaped, spirally alternate, and on the 
branchlets very close and regularly imbricated like an Arbor 
vita5, besides being a light or yellowish green. Tiie two varie- 
ties are probably the most gigantic evergreens in the world. 
There is a slab of the wood of the Sequoia at St. Petersburgh, 
measuring fifteen feet in diameter, and having one thousand 
and eight annual rings to mark its age. 

We have tried it many winters, but with hardly any success. 
It grows too rapidly and too late in the autumn to ripen oiF its 
wood, and almost always with us gets killed back to the snow- 
line, though generally shooting up again the next spring to 
meet a similar fate the succeeding winter. We have no returns 
about this tree other than tender, except from Washington, 
where a specimen, six feet high, planted by Mr. Downing, in 
1852, is growing beautifully though slightly injured in '55-6. 
There is no reason why, in our Southern States, it should not 
succeed perfectly. 



Taxodium distickum. Deciduous Cypress. 

Sijn. Cuprcssus Yirginiana, &e., &c. 

Though not an evergreen, yet this valuable genus is closely 
allied to coniferous trees, and is well known by all plantei's as 
the Southern or Swamp cypress, found along the banks of 
rivers and swamps in vast quantities ; in Georgia, Carolina, 
Florida, and all the Southern States, it reaches the height of 
one hundred and twenty feet. It is perfectly hardy at the 



528 LANDSCArE GARDENING. 

North. The varieties, fasiigiatum, pedulum, nutans, &c., are 
described under the head of Glyptosirohus. 



Tiixus. The Yew. 

Great additions have been made to this class of ever- 
greens, since the first edition of this book, where only three 
foreign and one American varieties are mentioned, viz. : 
T. haccata (the Common English), T. fastlgiata (the 
Upright yew), and the T. fructo-Jiava (Yellow-berried). 
Among the new ones which we have found hardy, are : 

T. udpressa (Flattened or Creeping yew). — An exceedingly 

Syn. dark, striking bush, never, we believe, ex- 

Cepbaiotaxus adpress.i, eeeding three feet high, but spreading 

T. bi-evifolia. 

horizontally ; with very minute close 
leaflets and pretty bright red berries, very desirable ; like all 
the yews, doing better in the shade. 

T. argentea and T. aurea (Silver and Golden yew). — These 
two are very beautiful and desirable varieties of the Common 
yew ; the first having silvery white-striped leaves, and the 
second golden. They seem perfectly hardy here. We 
have some Golden yews grafted standard high on the Green 
yew, which produces a very pleasing contrast. They are more 
commonly known in the English nurseries as Taxus elegans and 
Taxus ekgaritis.uma. 

T. Dovasion (Dovaston's yew). — A singular Weeping 

Syn. variety of common English yew, found some years 

T. penduia, ^ j^- ^^,g j-emember aright, in the yard of a cob- 

T. horizontalis. ° ' o » ./ 

bier near Shrewsbury ; described as pendulous as 
a birch or weeping willow ; quite hardy with us, and well 
worth cultivating. 

T. erecta (the Erect yew) — A slender variety of the com- 

Syn. mon English yew, with smaller foliage, and 

T. pyramidaiis, ^^^^ ^^.^ j. j^^^^^^j^. ^^ nrrowth ; somctimcs called 

1. stncta. t' 

Fulham yew. It is thought by some cultiva- 
tors in this country to be hardier than the common English yew, 
though the latter with us, especially after a year or so, 
succeeds perfectly well, though possibly a little browned in 
very severe Avinters. 



THE NEWEK EVEUGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 529 

T. ericoides (the Heath-like yew). — A very jn-etty, slender 
liyn. variety, with very minute foliage, quite dis- 

T. mierophylia. tlnctivc and hardy here, and at Newport, 

T. Hihernica (the Irish yew). — The same as Fastigiata, a very 
striking pyramidal tree, resembling in its close compact, habit, 
the Lombardy poplar. There are specimens in England twen- 
ty-one feet high, tliough usually twelve to fifteen feet seems its 
common height ; it is also known as the Florence Court yew. 
It is quite hardy generally, though sometimes a little browned 
by severe winters. This is a most admirable variety for pot- 
culture. 

T. nana (Dwarf yew). — A very dwarf, hardy variety, never 
Syn. exceeding two or three feet, but very spreading, 

T. Fosii. lijjg tiie Prostrate juniper. 

T. varlegata (Variegated yew). — A handsome variety, differ 
ing a little from the Golden yew, and sometimes sold as T. ele- 
gans ; hardy here. 

Thuiopsh. Broad-leaved arbor vit.e. 
Name derived from Thida, arbor vita^, and opds, like. There 
is but one variety of this new genus recognized in Gordon's 
Pinetum, viz., Thulopsis dolahrata. The remaining variety, 
known in this country as Thaiopsis horealis, is classed by Mr. 
Gordon among the Cupressi, and has already been described by 
us as a most valuable and hardy tree, known as Cupressus 
Nootkaensis. We think, ourselves, it would be better to ndojit 
the nurserymen's name, Thuiopsis BoreaIis,hy which it is gc - 
erally invoiced. 

Thuja. The Arbor vit^e. 

So many of this family have been already described under 

the head of Biota, and Mr. Downing having said all that wa-; 

necessary upon the common American arbor vitae {TJmja occ- 

denfalis), but few distinctive Thujas remain for us to mention. 

Thuja gigantea (Gigantic arbor vitfe). — If this succeeds in 

gyn. the United States — and there is every 

T. Craigiana. reason to be satisfied with its success 

T. Libocedrus decurrens. . .,, .111, 

thus tar — it will unquestionably be tlie 



530 LANDSCAPE GAJJDENmG. 

noblest addition this genus ever received. Accustomed as we 
are to regard the Arbor vitae as a small bush, principally avail- 
able for hedging or single specimens, ten to twenty feet high, 
for small villa-gardens and village-yards, Ave shall find it diffi- 
cult to realize that we are to have an arbor vltfe reaching to 
the dignity of a majestic tree, one hundred and forty feet up- 
right, with a fine umbrella-shaped top and pictui*esque head. 
Tliis is another of the giants from the Columbia river and 
Nootka sound. Mr. Jeff'rey discovered it along the banks of 
Scott's river, and sent it home to England as Thuja Craigiana. 
Mr. Nuttall, in his Eocky Mountain expedition, also discovered 
it, and gave it the name of Thu. gignntea ; and finally, Dr. 
Torrey has classed it as a Lihocedrus, and distinguished it as 
decurrcns. It has since again been discovered in California, 
in 1853, by M. Borusier de la Riviere. 

It has been discovered so many times, by diff'erent people, 
and received different names, tliat a good deal of confusion 
exists about it, and it is often confounded M'ith another 7%i(. 
(figantea — so named by Sir AVilliam Hooker, in his American 
Flora — but which, though coming from California, is a more 
slender tree, not over fifty feet, and is beyond doubt, the true 
Tim. Menziesii, which is also sometimes called T?iu. jjlicata, 
and very much resembling the American arbor vitas. In fact, 
it would seem as if there often existed among Arbor vitsss 
botanical rather than physical differences, which often, as in 
this case, and that of tiie Siberian Arbor vitfe, produces great 
perplexity. 

As these two giganteas are completely mixed up, we will 
describe them separately, with the hope of throwing some light 
(ipon their difference. 

The real Thu. gigantea has its branches rather erect, long, 
slender, and spreading laterally, with numerous smaller ones ; 
branchlets, short, flattened, channeled along the sides ; leaves, 
awl-shaped, lanceolate, loosely imbricated in four rates, the 
outer pair being the longest, and folded partially over the inner 
pair on both sides, giving the young shoots a trident-like ap- 
pearance. 

The Thu. Menziesii, on the contrary, has its branches sjyread- 
^ng, flat, more or less horizontal, slender, and of a deep brown 



THE NEWER EVERGKEEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 531 

color, alternately two round, and nearly all the inner side quite 
straiyfd ; leaves in alternately opposite pairs, closehj imbricated, 
those on the branchlets being much shorter, more rounded, and 
furnished with a short spiny point ; besides which, one forms a 
tree of one hundred and forty, while the other {TJm. Menziesli) 
only attains an altitude of forty feet. 

We are not yet able to say what either of these trees will 
do in this country. The real girjantea is said to be hardy, and 
the false not. At Elizabethtown, N. J., Mr. Reid writes us, 
*' The true one grows rapidly, and will no doubt prove hardy." 
At Augusta it stands perfectly well. At Flushing, not quite 
hardy. These are the only reports we have, and our own plants 
are out for the first time. 

Thu. macrocarpa. — This is a variety we received, if we mis- 
take not, several years since, from Messrs. EUwanger & Barry, 
of Rochester, and about which we can find no mention in any 
of the books, nor does it seem to exist in any of the foreign 
Pinetums, or in any nurserymen or collectors' catalogues. It 
resembles so much the Thu. gigantea, that we are inclined 
to think it is this variety under a different name. We have 
never tried it out, as we could not find anything of its charac- 
ter or habits under this name. 

Thu. variegata (Variegated arbor vita^). — Only a golden- 
striped variety of our common arbor vitae, but pretty and dis- 
tinctive, and perfectly hai'dy. 

Thu. aurea Americana (American Golden arbor vitos). — Is 
an exceedingly pretty and well-marked seedling, found acci- 
dentally in a nursery row by our neighbor, Mr. Daniel Brinck- 
enhoff, and named by us as above. The new growth is very 
distinctly yellow, and the old foilage, which is a bright clear 
nreen, tones off so gradually and delicately into the golden 
hue of the new, as to produce a most pleasing little tree, and 
perfectly hardy. 

Thu. Hoveyi (Hovey's arbor vitaj). — Another American 
seedling not yet introduced, but which is described to us by 
Messrs. Hovey (in whose nursery, near Boston, it was found) 
as a seedling of Occidentalis, as hardy as an oak, having never 
lost a limb in the severe winters of '55 and '56. Very nearly of 
the same habit as Aurea, compact and upright branches; leaves 



532 LANDSCAPE GARDKXIIvG. 

as fine as Aurea, making a most superb tree. It holds its color 
even better than Thu. Siberica, while it is a lively, soft green, 
brighter than Aurea, and not as sombre as Siberica. It is now, 
even in midwinter, as green as most arbor vitaes are in summer. 
Messrs. Hovey have two otlier seedlings, not as distinct or 
line as the above. 

Thu. plicaia (Noolka Sound ai'bor vita^). — These two plants 

plicata and Warrjaiia, thouo;h often sold by se- 
Syn. ^ ... 

Thu. Warreana. parate names, are, beyond question, identical ; 
Thu. compacta. jjjjg jg ^\^q conclusion bolli of the English and 

Thu. robusta. _, , , • . , , , i • , 

rrench authorities; aliliough there is another 
plicata, a synonym of Thu. Menziesii in the English collections, 
and another Warreana in some of the French collections, as 
among "les varieties horticoles," but only another name for 
Thu. occidentalis. The true plicata and tme Warreana are one 
and the same thing. 

The Nootka Sotind arbor vitae is found on the western shores 
of North America, at Nootka Sound, quite hardy, everywhere, 
and diiftring from the common American arbor vitoe, in having 
its branches shorter,, more compact, stouter, and densely covered 
with small, flattened leaves, bluntly pointed, and with a plaited 
and jointed appearance. 

We liave already alluded, under the head of Biota, to the dif- 
ficulty in recognizing the origin of B. Siberica, which is some- 
times confounded with Tatarica, but more generally with AVar- 
reana. This latter (Warreana) was named from Mr. Ware, a 
nurseryman at Coventry, in England, and Mr. Loudon con- 
sidered it as a distinct variety ; but it seems now to be referred 
back again to Thu. occidentalis ; and Siberica adopted as its 
name without any botanical authority, and simply as a nur- 
sery distinction ; and we presume, consequently, that all plants 
grown in this country, as the Siberian arbor vitas, are War- 
reana, or its synonym, plicata 



Tornya. The Torreya. 

Vulgarly, the Stinking Yew. — Small evergreen trees, found 
in North America, China and Japan, emitting, when bruised, 



THE NEWER EVERGKEEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. Ooo 

a Strong, disagreeble smell, and named after Dr. Torrey, the 
celebrated American botanist. 

T. grcmdis (The Grand Torrey a) .—Discovered by Fortune 
in northern part of China, as a large tree ^vith a spreading 
head, but so resembling a Cephalotaxus (which most of the 
others do) as to render it uncertain whether it may not yet 
prove one. It is considered very desirable whatever it may 
be, but just introduced into England and not yet, to our know- 
ledge, here. 

r. myristi<^t, (Californian nutmeg).— A small, bushy tree, 
twenty to forty feet high, with spreading horizontal branches, 
found on the Sierra Nevada, in California ; quite liardy in Eng- 
land and likely to prove so here. Our specimens are out for 
first winter, and we have no returns. Like all the Torreyas, 
emitting a most disagreeable odor when bruised or burnt, and 
called by emigrants the Stinking yew or California nutmeg. 

T. nvcifera (Nut-bearing Torreya).— This is out with us at 
Wodeneihe, for the first winter, and we have no returns 
about it. It is another small tree, twenty to thirty feet high, 
found on the mountains of Niphon and Sikok, in Japan, where 
an oil is made from the kernel of the nuts, used there for cu- 
linary purposes. The nut itself, and the leaves and branches, 
have the distinguishing characteristic of all the Torreyas— a 
disagreeable odor. 

T. iaxlfoVa (Yew-leaved Torreya.)— This is one of our 

gy^_ greatest accessions in the Middle States— be- 

Taxus montana. j,-,o- now perfectly hardy with us, as already 

described in our introductory chapter on evergreens, and very 

distinctive. 

It is a handsome pyramidal tree, with numerous spreading 
branches, growing from forty to fifty feet high, found in the 
middle and northern parts of Florida, where it is commonly 
known by the inhabitants as Stinking cedar and Wild nutmeg. 

Our best specimen (fig. 9G), is about eight feet high, very 
dense, showing nothing but foliage, like a thrifty arbor vit«, 
and remarkable, particularly in winter, for the star-like ap- 
pearance of the extreme tips of its young shoots. 

We have returns of this tree from Elizabethtown, N. J., 
Dobb's Ferry, Yorkville, Flushing and Newport, in all of 



534 LANDSCAPE GAJiDENING. 

vvhieli places it succeeds well, and is considered hardy, except 
at the last place where it is reported tender. 



Washingtonia gigantea. The Mammoth Tree. 

Tills truly most magnificent of all ti'ees — deciduous or ever- 
a ^ green— was discovered in a valley at the 

Weiiingtonia gigantea. source of one of the tributaries of the Cala- 
Sequoia gigantea. ^^^^.^^^ California. Within an area of fifty 

acres only, ninety two trees of this species Avei-e found stand- 
ing, beyond doubt the most stupendous vegetable products on 
earth. 

They were first discovered in 1850, by some hunters, whose 
accounts were considered fabulous until confirmed by actual 
measurement. The largest tree was one called the " Father of 
the Forest," four hundred and fifty feet high, one hundred and 
twelve feet in circumference. The next largest the " Mother 
of the Forest," three hundred and twenty-seven feet high, and 
ninety feet in circumference. 

Three trees, growing together, called the " Three Graces," 
are each three hundred feet high, ninety feet in circumference. 
There is another which has fallen, and through which a man on 
iiorseback may ride seventy-five feet, and twelve feet in the 
clear. These trees maybe truly termed tlie " Lions of Califor- 
nia," and in such estimation are they held, that it has been 
found sufficiently remunerative to erect a hotel and run a line 
of stages to Sacramento city and Sonora, for the accommodation 
of visitors to these great natural curiosities. 

The botanical discovery of this genus was, however, probably 
made by the unfortunate Douglas, in 1831, Avhen he Avrites to 
Mr. Hooker : " The splendor of the Californian vegetation con- 
sists of a species of Taxodium which gives to the mountains an 
especial beauty, wliich I may almost call terrible." 

This wonderful tree, whicli closely resembles, in our plants, 
the Weeping arbor vitas {Thuja Jiliformls), in its imbricated 
leaves, of a more delicate color than the arbor vitae, being of a 
pleasing light green, is, we are happy to say, promising to be 
hardy in the United States. 



EVERGKEEN OKNAMENTAL SHRUBS. 535 

Our own plants have only been out one year, but seem to 
succeed perfectly well- We have returns from a good many 
parts of the country Avhere it has not been left out all winter, 
and also from Mr. Reid, at Elizabethtown, where it was, and 
who has a specimen four to five feet, perfectly hardy. He 
thinks, in time, it may prove as common as a Norway spruce, 
being very rapid in its growth. At Woodlawn, N. J., it stands 
well, the largest specimen being four to five feet. At Rochester, 
it is hardy, and also at Augusta. 



WidUringtonia. The African Cypress. 
A new, distinct variety of cypress, found at Cape of Good 
Hope, and Madagascar, and named after Capt. Widdrington, 
and a variety of which, erroneously called Widdr'mglonia eri- 
coides, has been imported into this country, and is cultivated 
with some success, doing very well here in the shade, and 
also at Washington and Augusta. We hardly know why it 
comes out to us as a Widdringtonia. In the English collection 
it is called Retinispora ericoides, and in the French, Chamoesy- 
jparis ericoides ; but, by whatever name it is called, it is a pretty 
heath-like little shrub, resembling somewhat the Irish juniper. 
It is cultivated in Japan (its native country), in pots, and 
called «Nezu,"— (Dwarf.) 



EVEEGREEN ORNAJIENTAL SHRUBS. 

But veiy little progress has been made in the planting 
of evergreen shrubs. As great as has been the ad- 
vance in trees, especially the coniferous, there has been 
nothing to correspond with it in the introduction of 
evergreen shrubs. With the exception of a few varieties 
of the Berberries — ^like Japonica, Bealii, Intermedia, 
&c., we do not remember any thing avaihible for this 



536 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

climate now, which was not well known when Mr 
Downing wrote. 

There are, perhaps, a few things, untried ten years 
ago, which have been tested the past three or fonr 
years, and not " found wanting ;" such as some of the 
smaller English shrubs, like the Andromeda — especially 
Floribunda — the Cotoneaster, of which Buxifolia, with 
us, proves the hardiest, though Microphylla and Margi- 
nata, both do well in the shade. And here let us remark, 
once for all, that no evergreen shrubs do at all well in 
this country, in the sun. Every thing, from the yew 
down to the creeping periwinkle, succeeds vjell, oidy 
in shade. 

If it is impossible or inconvenient, to have these 
shrubs otherwise than exj^osed in open lawns, we should 
recommend only the employment of certain varieties, 
like the R-hododendrons, Catawbiensis, Ivalmia latifolia, 
Mahonia acpiifollum, and Ilex laurifolia. 

These four shrubs seem to stand any amount of heat 
and cold. Our thermometer, while we now write, indi- 
cates sixteen hel'ow Zero i and last summer they passed 
through a fiery ordeal of 95° to 100° : and this they 
have done for many years, with no other ill effect than 
that the very hot weather changes tluit fine, deep, 
dense color they universally have in the shade, into a 
yellowish green, but they survive and grow and flourish 
and bloom, though certainly less fine than when planted 
on the north of buildings or woods. 

Take it all in all, we consider the Mahonia (some- 
times called Borb'jrris mahonia), the most valuable 
i)f all shrubs, deciduous or evergreen. 

If there is any exception to our remarks above, about 
the necessity of growing evergreen shrubs in the 
shade, we should make it in favor of this variety. 
It may be imported very cheap. Messrs. Waterer & 
Godfrey, Knaphill Nursery, Woking, near London, offer 
plants, one foot high, at eighty shillings sterling, per 



evergrp:en okna:m£ntal siihubs. 537 

thousand, and in same proportion for smaller quanti- 
ties. It is perfectly hardy— a most rapid grower— has 
a very attractive, yellow flower early in spring, succeed- 
ed by fine purplish berries^in autumn, which, in Eng- 
land, are used for preserves by the agricultural classes, 
very much, as in Kew England, the common Berberry 
is used for same purpose. It is evergreen, or if not 
entirely so, it has what is even better, a most superb 
rich, brown tone, mingled with the most gorgeous scarlet 
and crimson, like our liighest autumnal coloring, and 
the leaves covered with a brilliant lustre-like varnish. 
We believe it does not grow over five or six feet high, 
and we find the plant is much improved by keeping it 
back by occasional clipping, as it sometimes has a ten- 
dencv to straggle. It should be always planted in beds 
or masses, by itself. 

The Rhododendron is too well launvn to require des- 
cription. Although the E. Ponticum and many of the 
hardy hybrids like Nero, Atrosanguineum, Ferrugin- 
eum, and a few others are quite satisfactory in the pro- 
tection of a wood, yet the only truly reliable ones 
in exposed situations, are the English varieties of the 
Catawbiensis, of which Messrs. Waterer & Godfrey 
(and we presume they can also be procured now at our 
nurseries) offer tliirty varieties in color, all liardy here, 
one and a half to two feet high, mostly with flower 
buds, at fifty shillings sterling, per hundred, for 
plants 7iot named, and ten pounds per hundred (about 
fifty cents each) for named varieties. 

It is perhaps well to say here that Rhododendrons, 
Azaleas, and most of these evergreen shrubs, do well 
enough in ordinary garden soil, but are much improved 
in color and habit, by a soil prepared equally of peat, 
leaf soil, and sand or sandy loam. There is no more 
superb plant cultivated than the Ehododendron, and we 
earnestly recommend the adoption in pots (to be kept 
in the green-house during winter) of the varieties below 



538 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

mentioned,* too tender to be entirely exposed all tlie 
year. 

The Ilex laxirifolia (Laurel-leaved holly), strikes ns, 
after the Mahonia, as the next most valuable ever- 
green shrnl), even more so here than our native Kalmia, 
which is very apt to suffer from our hot August weather. 
We have grown this Ilex many years, both in a wood 
and in the most open situation, and apparently with 
equal success ; though we presume in certain seasons, 
with great alternations of heat and cold, those exposed 
would be apt to scorch. It has a leaf of a color and 
habit like the Camelia, and even finer ; and, if we regard 
foliage alone without flower (though even this is pretty), 
we should say we had no finer j^lant upon this place. It 
is an exceedingly great favorite of ours, and strange to 
say, we have never seen it elsewhere. 

The Kalmia latifolia (the Broad-leaved Kalmia), or 
American Sheep-laurel, as it is commonly called, is 
another very desirable shrub, as well as its varieties— 
K. angustifolia (Narrow-leaved Kalmia) ; K. myrtifolia 
(Myrtle-leaved) ; K. carnea (Red-flowering Kalmia), &c. 
It is somewhat difficult to move, and although the 
mountains in our neighborhood abound with them, we 
have found it less expensive to import plants from 
England, raised from seed, at fifteen cents apiece, than 
to transplant the native habitats of the mountains, with 
their long straggling roots. Though it will grow in the 
sun, yet in the shade it becomes a different plant. 

The above, with the difierent Yews, Arbor vittes, 
creeping and low-growing Junipers, &c., are the only 
dependable evergreen shrubs that we can at this 

* Atro sanguineum (Superb Deep maroon) ; ArcMmedes (Superb Rose de 
Chlue) ; Angiola (Superb Cherry pink); Brayammn ', Currcanum (Superb 
Truss lilac rose) ; CJiancdlor ; Fastuosum (Magnificent Truss lilac) ; Gigan- 
teumj Hannibal; Henry Jjrummond ; Luxidum ; liubrvm Maculatum , 
Nero ; Ke Plus Tfltra (Fine lilac) ; Poussin ; Reediamim (Small Truss rose- 
pink, but fine) ; Sir Isaac Newton ; VaTidych ; Victoria (Superb Deep lilac) ; 
Cleopatra; Jnvictmn, ; Proserpine ; Speciosum. 



EVEKGREEN OENAMENTAL SHRUBS. 539 

moment recommend for general planting in exposed 
sunny situations. 

For amateurs, Avho have the advantage of a wood, or 
a long line of high fence, upon the northern side ol 
which they may have a shaded border, there are several 
other things we would suggest : such as the hardy 
Heaths, the liardy Belgic azalias, costing in England 
£10 per hundred (lifty cents apiece), for named vari 
eties, in twenty diiferent colors : the different Andro- 
medas, the Rhodora Canadensis, the various Gaulthe- 
rias, the Ledums, the pretty family of Menziesias, the 
Epigaea, the diiferent varieties of Box, the green and 
the variegated Euonymous. 

The Ilex Scottica is represented to us as quite as fine 
and as hardy as Ilex laurifolia, though we have not yet 
tried it. 

In those parts of tlie country, too cold to grow the 
English ivy, we would suggest large circular beds, in 
appropriate parts of the pleasure-grounds, to be planted 
in ivy ; and which, while permitted to fill the bed, should 
be kept within it by clipping. Beds in this way filled 
(the ground being well covered in) with the difi'erent 
varieties of the Gold-striped, the Silver-striped, and the 
Dark Giant, are very effective and striking, and when 
not protected by snow in winter, can readily be so by a 
few cedar or hemlock boughs thrown over them. 



Note— A3 this work is passing through the press, we have received a twig, per- 
fectly green a<nd fresh, of an Ahies Douglasii, from a tree at Cazenovia, New York, 
planted in 1853, when only eighteen inches high, and that has now reached the alti- 
tude of eight feet, making annual shoots of fifteen to twenty inches, withstanding a 
temperature in 1855-6-7, of 25° to 28" heloio zero, without the slightest protection 
or the least injury ; while the A. Menziesii is immediately destroyed, and the Silver 
fir raised with difficulty, and where neither the Cedar of Lebanon, the Pinu» 
excelsa, or Picea pinsapo, succeed at all. 

The tree from which the specimen was sent us, is growing in a retentive loam, 
rarely suffering from drought, hut planted on an open lawn, entirely exposed on 

every side. , , ^i t. i « 

This seems conclusive evidence that cold at least, does not injure the Uougias nr, 
and that it may be classed " Perfectly hardy" in a climate usually considered th« 
most severe, or one of the most severe, in the State of New York. 






i- I 






C O O C3 



J- t^ :- O O O O 

:« --« ci -c ■a ■^ -c 



cartts-s-agcsg 



- 3 "c '^2. ZZ 






,J2 S 
c! c« oi 



2 5 a m 



S C O ri 



. C8 



^^^ S.2.r-5-:= •I^S^- 



0) ^-.2 a «i :^ !i ^ .^"^ -a !i~ 

! ?."5 s ■? o a 9 g 5 -c = 5 1; 



cf ,- g"3 






-e t, O :- 



►Jca:j:^aa^ai:-^Szca-cc;5S— . W-iSZZOoQE-^^-J- 



.S ^ S 3 

£ S u ^ 



-.2" rt 



•^o<- 






^ i: = 5 S ~ 










T3 


•a 


rt 

ro 


^■O 


J5 5 


:» 


«* 




■^ 


'c 








C3 


•OH 




c 


« 


C 3 




E- 



^^3 









■a ca o 



a c c t- C" c 

M O W ►-' h-*-!- 



ts c ^ o o a 



3 * 0) .-' 3 

!u « 5 a 

nil 









O c3 

H 3 






OJ QJ 



,„'C :S 



ca • 



2 £ C 



c c 



5 5 ' 3 ^^ 5 & o 
_ - .. 3jH3a;3£3o 



=*<2 2, 



■» cs-o 'C ■a 



o o o o 









c-5 



t^ .£5t-J-0000000 



o o o o t- o o 

•3 "a '^ p^ rf '3 P4 

aS □ 






O^rt 



3 c3 :« 



KKOOOUSi: 



! --t:.H g « o 

: .s s S s P u 



-eS; 



"3 -2 ^ ^ o ce c o 

■" "" "" 'to S 5 fi ; 



fctljej 



;-0000000— ^^ 



■ t. o o 
• cS-C-O 



-J5 ^ 






q q q q q t- r- 

c J5 



t- o o o o 



C3 ce 'O '^3 






J !-. O O 






ft 



3 P^cs 



C :-; -3 — -3 



• - • ■ C - " • • ■ o" 



5 •= .| 2 S .2 



S I* IS c; 
<'''•- ~ "^ c ^ S 
be 7i -o M o Ij ~ 
c c E •« t- T. o 

3 •:; 4) t: 4) c 






5 a 



i3 S « ?■" 

-■- - 5 rt 



£ o C: 









w 

■ 5 rt 



D ^' *-> r^ ^ TT 



o c o o o 



0-^5 






2 < 



a : 2 : & 



5^ »- 

< a 
EH ?) 



8" 



O..H M 3 ^ 









■J =^ • 
^1 : 



ej -3 SB'S -3 C 



S & K' S: 
r^ tD S <i) 



-2 'O ^ 'O 

o:-00t,0t-000 



C O u 



E o 



= c ^ h? c o o 




©"E o o-g 



r i2 



S: S 






w &<K; 



"= p o rt S fs .2 « S =*' 

•? 5 S .g 3 h § §• S -a 

fi f« o p» a S O O &^ A, 



S.2 S 

o ^ S 

= 5:2 



; >.5S 



3 !=• 



g-a 



54G LANDSCAPE GARDKNINO. 



SECTION V. 

HISTOKICAL NOTICES. 

It is With great reluctance that we undertake this 
portion of our task, from a' consciousness of our entire 
inability to do justice to the many fine places which 
exist all over the United States, and which require a 
greater knowledge than we have of them, as well as more 
space and time than is allowed us, for the remainder of 
this supplement. 

With Mr. Downing, in his first edition, this labor was 
comparatively a light one, as, twelve or fifteen years ago, 
there were only a few marked places in the neiglibor- 
hood of our large cities, and upon the banks of the Hud- 
son river and Long Island sound, which were so dis- 
tinguished and jDrominent as to be easily described ; of 
this class were Col. Perkins' and Mr, Lyman's near 
Boston ; the Manor of Livingston, Montgomery place 
and Hyde Park, upon the Hudson ; the Bartram gar- 
den, Stenton, WoodlaAvn, etc., near Philadelphia; and 
a few others. Since this period, however, the taste for 
country life has advanced so rapidly, that, in and about 
these very neighborhoods, there are, at present, scores of 
country houses, many of them of the finest and most 
expensive character, but all partaking more or less of 
similar disposition and style of grounds, and a similar 
fashion of planting. 

"We have already said, in the introduction to this sup- 
plement, that since Mr. Downing's time, though the 
style of country houses had vastly improved, yet 
an equal improvement was not so evident in Land- 



mSTORICAL NOTICES. 54* 

scape Gardening. This we attributed to the fact 
that, while an Architect was employed to build the 
house, no professional artist was employed to arrange 
the grounds, and great errors and mistakes constantly 
occurred — 'in many cases so gross, as to destroy the en- 
tire effect of what would be otherwise a very fine and 
attractive place. 

Although there has been great expenditure of money in 
country houses and costly glass-buildings, during the past 
ten years, yet, in a great many cases, very inferior arrange- 
ment and phmting have been exhibited in the grounds. 
Landscape Gardening is just as much a picture, though a 
living one, made by trees, as a painted landscape is made 
by the pencil or brush ; both require long years of study, 
artistic perceptions, and a knowledge of how to handle 
the tools. It would be quite as unreasonable, we think, 
to expect one of our merchants or lawyers, in active 
business, to make a landscape, as to paint one. How 
can a person who has passed his life in the whirl and 
excitement of active business, or professional occupa- 
tions, be suddenly transferred to the country and be 
expected to make a garden? It would be just as ab- 
surd as to expect that a gardener can be transferred to 
the counting-room, and become, the next day, a merchant. 
It is quite as necessary in the one case as in the other 
to bo educated up to whatever you are to succeed in. 

It requires more and different qualities to make a 
country-place than are required for any other j)rofession. 
For while industry, knowledge, prudence, sagacity, are 
generally all that are necessary for a merchant, or law- 
yer, or doctor, the Landscape Gardener must have not 
only these but also taste — a knowledge of the beautiful, 
and a perception of the harmony of form and color ; in 
other words, he must be an artist. 

The fashion of living in the country has not existed long 
enough (though rapidly increasing) for this knowledge or 
taste to have been very widely extended ; for every good 



5-18 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING. 

place there are a great many bad ones, and we cannot but 
think that our country residences would be much more 
agreeable, if artists were allowed to arrange the places — 
at least, to make suggestions, just as artists are allowed 
to build the houses, or, at any rate, help build them. 

The necessary result then, as we have previously 
observed, is that a person going into the country 
to live, makes his own place from his neighbor's sug- 
gestions, or from ideas derived from his neighbor's 
place — which may be very faulty or of an entirely differ- 
ent character from his own — with the aid, perhaps, of 
his gardener and a suggestive nurseryman. A great 
many places are manufactured from these three sources ; 
and the general character of them all is so much alike, 
that there is little or no distinction between half a dozen 
in the same neighborhood, though a competent Land- 
scape Gardener might have developed many different 
beauties in each. 

In the absence, tlierefore (from having been already 
mentioned in the first part of this book), of any of those 
very marked and distinguished residences which have 
received the stamp of years, where trees have grown 
into studies, and the places themselves have become 
schools for tlie lovers of art, we trust we shall 
not be thought invidious if we confi.ne ourselves 
to a brief mention of a few of the prominent places 
which have come under our notice — ■ being quite 
aware that they are well deserving of much more than 
we have an opportunity to say. We were in hopes 
with many of these to have given illustrations, but here 
again time failed us ; even the one or two we succeeded 
in procuring v/ere too late for the engraver. 

"We are quite aware we shall be forced to omit a 
great many in more remote parts of the country, which 
we have not yet had the pleasure of seeing, and this 
makes us the more regret that our limits and our time 
will allow us to do so little. 



IIISTOKICAL NOTICES. 549 

The neighborhood of Boston was so thoroughly des- 
cribed in the lirst portion of the present vohime, that 
but little is left us to add to this account. The same 
places, more or less, which were prominent then, are 
quite as distinctive now. 

Mr. Lee's lawn, as yet, has no rival, unless perhaps 
that of Mr. Mudge, at Swarascot, near Lynn. Welles- 
ley, the residence of Mr. Hunnewell, we have already de- 
scribed ; and though there are a great many other fine 
houses, the places themselves are yet comparatively 
newly planted. 

Kenwood^ the residence of Mr. Feabody, near Salem, 
has a great deal of quiet pastoral beauty, and much ar- 
tistic eifect is shown in the arrangement of the house 
and grounds. 

Linmere, the residence of R. S. Fay, Esq., has great 
capabilities, not yet taken advantage of. There is here 
a verj'- valuable collection of rare deciduous and ever- 
green trees, which, if properly thinned out and planted, 
would be very efit'ective. The place itself is a fine es- 
tate of some five hundred acres or more, mostly sur- 
rounding a lake, and very much resembling Scotch 
scenery. 

The house and grounds of the late John E. Thayer, 
Esq., including a vast extent of glass, are perhaps the 
most expensive in the neighborhood of Boston. 

The residence of Mr. J. L. Gardener has a pretty 
sloping lawn, and an attractive flower garden, with 
many fine Norways and other trees. 

The difliculty of procuring suitable residences in the 
city, has forced many persons into the country, and the 
consequent high prices have prevented the occupation 
of much land by any single individual. 

The new residences are, consequently, surburban, 
but very complete in all the outer accessaries of country 
life — stables, green and fruit-houses, and very substan- 
tial and liandsome walls. 



550 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Within a few years, there has been very visible im- 
provement in the style and character of the marine 
residences in the neighborhood of Boston. 

At Lynn, and on what is called the Beverley shore, 
are the marine villas of Mr, Prescott, Mr. Curtis, Mr. 
Jiawrence, Mr. Jasigi, Mr. J. D. Bates, Mr. Loring, and 
tlie late Mr. Dexter — all more or less distinguished 
by the excellence of their houses, and witli most 
charming views. 

IS^ewport, having become, of late years, a very 
desirable place of residence for people of fortune, 
abounds, like the neighborhood of Boston, in very taste- 
ful and agreeable villas and cottages, with prettily 
arranged and well kept grounds, the most successful 
of which, taking grounds with house, is Beachdyffe^ the 
residence of Delancy Kane, Esq. Mr. Kane's house, a 
very fine one, is in the style of the French chateaux, 
with extensive views both inland and seaward, and his 
lawn is quite as successful as any we know in this 
country. The place is about twenty acres, and very 
charmingly planted with a great variety of the most 
valuable trees. We think the growth of certain varie- 
ties unsurpassed in any place we have ever seen ; 
and there is a luxuriance of habit and depth of color in 
the masses which form his boundary plantations, which 
is truly remarkable. 

Mr. Kane had a great advantage over many of his 
Newport neighbors, in finding quite a number of well- 
grown horse-chestnuts, and other ornamental trees, 
which he has contrived to work, with much good taste, 
into his own plantations. The gate-lodge here is quite 
a little gem in its way. 

Malhone Place. — ^Tlie residence of Mr. J, Prescott 
Hall is a fine house of red or rather brown freestone, 
commanding an extensive view of Karragansett bay, and 
surrounded by some most extraordinary Red cedars, of 
great antiquity, but with their heads, so flattened and 



HISTORICAL NOTICES. 551 

distorted bj the winds as to produce the closest resem- 
blance to that peculiar horizontal growth which cha- 
racterizes the Cedar of Lebanon. 

Mr. Hall's farm is, we believe, a fine one, and he has 
great command of water from a hydraulic ram, in the 
driest seasons, sufficient to irrigate his entire garden. 

The celebrated Buffum pear originated on this place, 
and is still very prolific. 

Mr. Wetmore's residence, built of Fall River granite, 
is the largest and most expensive house at Newport, 
witli a very successful lodge, and a fine extent of glass, 
containing a vinery, and a very handsome octagonal 
conservatory. The view of the sea from this place is 
very impressive. 

Mr. Parish has a fine place in the neighborhood of 
Mr. Wetmore. The house, of brick and stone trim- 
mings, is a very striking one, and the lawn admirably 
kept to the water's edge. Adjoining this is the estate 
of Mr. Cadwallader, wiiere at present there is no house. 
We believe great and extensive improvements are con- 
templated in this place ; it is still in an unfinished 
state. 

The residence of Mr. King is a handsome brick house, 
in the Italian style, surrounded by some fifteen acre;^, 
with some remarkably fine specimens of Pinus cembra, 
twelve to fifteen feet high ; also some fine Junip'irs 
and Purple beeches. 

Mr. Calvert's grounds, near the town, contain some 
fine trees grouped with much taste. 

Among other residences of more or less merit, are 
those of Messrs. Hussell, Lyman, Hoppin, Yan Kens- 
selaer, Wright, Mason, and Mr. Morgan Gibbes. 

Notwithstanding the difficulty which is always sup- 
posed to exist, in producing any efiect by trees so imme- 
diately in the neighborhood of the sea, yet experience 
shows that, at Newport, at least, much is and has been 
done by judicious planting. Mr. Kane informs us, and 



552 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

in this, we believe, Mr. Smith, wlio is tlie great autho- 
rity at Newj3ort on trees, coincides, that in making an 
evergreen screen from the sea, the Scotch and Austrian 
pines should be placed outside, Siberian {Thuja War- 
reana) Arbor vitse, and Pinus cembra next, with per- 
haps the Common Ked cedar ; and among deciduous 
trees, nothing succeeds better than Acer -pseudo-jpla- 
tanus and Platanus oricntalis (the Eastern plane). 

Upon the Hudson, the most marked place which has 
been created since the first edition of tliis book, is Rock- 
loood^ the residence of Edwin Bartlett, Esq., near Tarrj- 
town. The house (Eig. 97), is truly a princely mansion, 
with a fajade of nearly or quite one hundred and fifty feet, 
and with its internal arrangements and decorations, we 
should say, quite the most complete establishment in 
the United States. The estate itself consists of several 
hundred acres, very cleverly planted with park-like 
effect ; and the approach, which is quite a long one, so 
judiciously managed, that it conveys the idea of a very 
large place, and gives a stranger the most agreeable 
impression of the house, at the first appearance, when 
emerging from a ravine or passage between two rocky 
eminences. 

The views from the house and the plateau or terrace 
around it, are very superb, and unrivalled, we think, 
upon the ^ludson River. 

Very extensive green-houses and conservatories have 
been erected under the supervision of Mr. Luchars, a 
builder of great experience ; and we do not see why, 
in a few years, with the taste and liberality of expendi- 
ture on tlie part of the proprietor, Rockwood will not 
be the, or certainly one of the most distinguished 
country-seats in America. 

With regard to Hyde Park (Mr. Langdon's), EUerslie 
(Mr. Kelly's), Montgomery Place (Mrs. Livingston's), 
and Annandale (Late Blithewood), Mr. Bard's, which we 
have always considered the four great places in this 



HISTORICAL NOTICES. 



553 



country, we can only refer our readers to Mr. Downing'a 
remarks about tlieni in the first portion of this vohime. 

While the hand of time has even still more mellowed 
their beauties by those touches and effects which 
Nature alone can produce with years, yet even here the 
hand of man has not been idle. 

At Annandale and Hyde Park, extensive ranges of 
glass have replaced the old ones of previous owners,* 
while at Montgomery Place and Ellei-slie the most 
showy and superb conservatories and green-houses have 
been erected. 

At Montgomery Place also, there has been planted 
within the past ten years, the most complete and satis- 
factory arboretum in the United States. Neither pains 
or expense have been spared in obtaining the most entire 
and thorough collection, or in the peculiar and appro- 
priate prep^aration of soil for the reception of the 
different varieties. 

In the neighborhood of Rhinebeck, is " Wyndclyffe," 
the residence of Miss Jones, a very successful and dis- 
tinctive house, with much the appearance of some of 
■he smaller Scotch castles. This place is still quite 
lew, but the situation is one of great beauty, upon a 
lold, projecting point of land, in admirable harmony 
vith the style of the house, and with the most extensive 
aid superb views. 

Immediately above Hyde Park, is the fine house of 
Ml. Curtis, one of the most expensive and costly upon 
the Hudson, possessing very much the same extended 
vie;vs of river and mountain as at Hyde Park. 

I^osefieath—the residence of C. M. Wolcott, Esq., 
in (ur own immediate neighborhood, is the creation of 
the jast few years, and we are very much indebted to 
it for a great many advantages to our own place, which 

* At Hyde Piirk, a very graceful and elegant house of the composite order, 
de^ignei and built by Piatt, of New York, and with a fajade of one hundred 
and fifty feet, has within a few years, replaced the hospitable old mansion of 
the late Sr. Hosack. 



5^4 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

we should not otherwise possess. Bj the employmenl 
of wire fences, and some careful planting out of the 
liouses in both places, a great deal of what Nature has 
done for each, has been appropriated by both. 

We know of no other place where such successful 
masses of Rhododendrons, Azalias, and Mahonias are 
grown as here, being on the north side of the house, and 
getting but little or no sun. The graperies, green-house, 
and gardens, are extensive, and admirably kept. By 
means of a steam-engine, water can at any moment be 
forced into the mansion and an outside reservoir, from 
which it can be distributed over the gardens. In the 
comparatively small space of sixteen acres, Mr. Wolcott 
has every attribute of a well-kept country place — several 
lawns, each distinct from the other, with separate and 
lovely views ; an English flower-garden, a most success- 
ful vegetable-garden, green-house, grapery, and forcing- 
house, the most charming views, and no apparent 
boundary but river and mountain. 

Idlewild — the residence of N. P. Willis, Esq., across 
the Hudson, some four miles below Newburgh, is 2 
piece of Nature's Landscape Gardening, where the hanc 
of man should not, and, from the good taste of the ownei, 
has not been allowed to appear, except in the necessaiy 
buildings. In a work like this, for the purpose cf 
showing the progress of Landscape Gardening, tKs 
place should, properly, not be mentioned ; and we re'er 
to it, simply to show how delicate and refined that taste 
must be which, appreciating all that Nature has chwe. 
with so much prodigality of beauty, as at " Idlewi'd," 
has the courage to let her alone. 

In the neighborhood of Philadelphia, there ai-e a 
great many fine places ; among them is Medary^ the 
residence of Harry Ingersoll, Esq. A tasteful anc sub- 
stantial house, built by Notman, we believe, with 
pleas r. re-grounds of very considerable extent, and of a 
pretty, graceful character, softly undulating, and well 



.HISTOKICAL NOTICES. 555 

planted. The landscape and the character of the 
country in the neigliborliood of Medarj, though deli- 
cient in the bolder outlines of many of our more 
northern phices, yet has, what we confess is a great 
attraction to us, the quiet sylvan beauty of English 
scenery — that pastoral look, which seems to suggest the 
presence of animated nature ; and Mr. IngersoU has, 
witli great good taste, we think, taken advantage of 
this hint, by the introduction of fine cattle, whicli 
harmonize most pleasingly with the character of the 
place. There is here a pretty flower-garden, plant- 
cabinet, green-house, vinery, and some new peach and 
orchard-houses. 

Brookwood — the residence of Cliarles Ileiiry Fisher, 
Esq. — a very extensive and complete establishment, 
with a great amount of glass, most charming views, and 
a great deal of well-kept, ornamental ground, will, in a 
few years, be one of the most striking places near Phila- 
del]3hia. 

Al'verthorpe — the residence of X Francis Fisher, Esq., 
is another superb place, where a vast deal has been 
accomplished, bt)th with house and grounds. The park- 
like view from the front is extensive and exceedingly 
striking. An effective architectural appearance is pro- 
duced in connecting the mansion and green-houses by 
a sort of cloister, or gallery. The collection of trees 
and shrubs at this place is also large and very choice. 

Fern Hill — nearer town, is the residence of J. Pratt 
McKean, Esq., and is another of those remarkably line 
and imposing houses which have been erected in the 
neighborhood of Philadelphia within a few years. 
Here, also, are fine ranges of glass, and extensive and 
interesting views, and a great work in process of being 
accomplished. 

There are many other places near Philadelphia (and 
we think the vicinity of no other city abounds in so many 
costly country residences) which we shall be compelled 



556 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

to pass over, from want of time and space, simply with 
their names : such as the fine and expensive house of 
Col. Eastwick, on the old Bartram garden ; Woodfield, 
the fine residence of Mr. Swift ; Devons?iire, the seat of 
Mr. Blight, remarkable for its evergreens ; and Champ- 
lost, the mos't charming old coimtry residence of Charles 
P. Fox, Esq. 

In the vicinity of Princeton, N. J., are some fine resi- 
dences. The most interesting one to us is Woodlawn, 
belonging to Richard S. Field, Esq, and which we have 
alluded to so often in course of this suj^plement, that 
we have no right, perhaps, to say anything more. The 
house is a very fine one, and the place most successful 
in certain varieties of evergreens. 

There is here a Cedar of Lebanon (Fig. 38) larger 
than any other in the country, except Mr. Ashe's at 
Throgg's l!^eck ; a Juniperus squamata, unsurpassed in 
any collection, and Siberian arbor vitas (as they are 
called) though probably the Thuja Warreana, and many 
other evergreens of matchless size and beauty. 

Near Wilmington, Del., is the fine place of Mr. Ship- 
ly ; and in the neighborhood of Baltimore, is Farm- 
lands, the noble estate of G. W. Lurman, Esq., com- 
prising nearly six hunired acres, a large portion of 
which is cultivated for agricultural purposes, with very 
remunerating success. The mansion, without any arclii- 
tectural pretension, is one of great comfort and extent, 
commanding varied views over a fine rolling country to 
the city, and adjacent Chesapeake ; a well designed walk 
leads from the lawn, shaded by majestic oaks, with a 
few fine and effective cedars, to a pretty valley, bordered 
by masses and clumps of Rhododendrons, Hollies, Azalias, 
and other rare and valuable shrubs and trees ; the whole 
terminating in a brilliant French parterre, surmounted 
on a terrace by an extensive green-house, in tlie rear of 
which, a gardener's house, a double curvilinear vinery, 
a frame-yard with several hundred feet of brick pits, a 



HISTORICAL NOTICES. 



551 



well concealed vegetable and fruit garden, complete 
the modern appliances of a fine country seat. 

Hani2)ton, the residence of John Ridgley, Esq., is 
situated about nine miles north of Baltimore, and be- 
longs more properly to the early edition of this work, 
than to this supplement, which is intended simply 
to describe what has been done within ten years. 
It has been truly said of HamjMn that it expresses 
more grandeur than any other place in America. 

It belongs to the stately order of places almost unknown 
here at the North, situated as it is in the midst of a do- 
main of six thousand acres. The fagade of the house is 
one hundred and eighty feet in length, with offices at- 
tached, erected soon after the Eevolution, in 1T83. 

The entrance hall, of great width and dignity, passes 
the visitor to the south front, where is a terraced gar- 
den of great antiquity, with clipped cedar hedges of 
most venerable appearance. The formal terraces of 
exquisitely kept grass, the long rows of superb lemon 
and orange trees, with the adjacent orangerie and the 
foreign air of the house, quite disturb ones ideas of 
republican America. 

Clifton Parle, near Baltimore, the residence of John 
Hopkins, Esq., is unquestionably one of the most elabo- 
rate places in this country. We remember no other, 
where in addition to a tine and costly house, there is so 
laro-e a range of glass, with such diversified and extensive 
grounds ; the varieties of trees, shrubs, walks, lawns, 
large pieces of ornamental water, containing numerous 
islands planted with masses of rhododendrons and ever- 
green shrubs, and connected by appropriate and tasteful 
bridges, are all, certainly, much in advance of any other 
place we know. 

Lyndhurst, the country seat of Keverdy Johnson, 
Esq., has a new and very striking house, with a most 
extended and superb view. 

Carroll Manor is another tine old place, like Hampton, 



558 LANDSCAPE GAPiDENING. 

with a turf unbroken for nearly two hundred years, and 
of the softness and thickness of velvet. 

Mondaw7nin, the residence of Mr. Brown, is a very 
attractive place, prettily laid out and planted. 

In concluding our remarks on what has been done the 
past ten years, in various parts of the United States, as 
illustrating the progress in country life, we insert a 
short account of the state of Landscape Gardening in 
Ohio, extracted from a letter of Robert Buchanan, Esq., 
a w^ell known enthusiast in rural matters, whose taste- 
fully arranged grounds should, undoubtedly, have a 
place in the list of beautiful residences in the pictur- 
esque environs of Cincinnati. 

" Landscape Gardening, according to the modern 
taste in that beautiful art, is of but recent introduction 
into the West. Previous to the publication of Mr. 
Downing's valuable book on that subject, the improve- 
ments of public and private grounds were made under 
the direction of the proprietors, or of some gardener 
who had strayed out to this new country to better his 
fortune. There was no system — nothing to copy after ; 
and although all were desirous to improve in good taste, 
they had no guide, until Mr. Downing's work appeared, 
and that was at once adopted as the text-book. Since 
tliat period, the magic wand of the enchanter has passed 
over the country, and in tlie vicinity of our cities and 
towns has transformed the barren hills and vales of 
their environs into tasteful suburban villas, through the 
skill of the Landscajje Gardener. 

" No public or private grounds with any pretension* 
to elegance, are now undertaken to be improved, with- 
out the supervision of a competent master of this art ; for 
no one wishes to have it said, that his improvements 
were in bad taste. 

" Li the vicinity of Cincinnati, on the beautiful hills 
surrounding the city, many fine specimens of well-im- 



HISTORICAL NOTICES. 559 

proved country seats are to be found. Among others, 
may be mentioned those of R. B. Bowler, Wni. Resor, 
W. B. Smith, Griffin Taylor, Thos. Sherlock, S. J. Kel- 
logg, and Henry Probasco, of Clifton ; W. "VV. Scar- 
borough, and his neighbors of East Walnut Hills ; Miles 
Greenwood, and others, of Avondale ; several on College 
Hill, in the neighborhood of Farmers' College; and 
Jacob Hoffner, of Cumminsville, in the valley below. 

" In the West, ~^of late years, the establishment of 
Rural Cemeteries in the vicinity of towns and cities has 
been introduced with commendable zeal, and with a refin- 
ing influence on those interested, as well as on the public 
at large. Among the most prominent of these improve- 
ments may be named 'Spring Grove Cemetery,' near 
Cincinnati ; ' Alleghany Cemetery,' near Pittsburgh ; 
' Bell Fountain,' of St. Louis ; ' Cave Hill,' of Louis- 
ville ; and those of Lexington, Frankfort, Dayton, Colum- 
bus, and Cleveland ; many of them presenting good 
specimens of the art of and taste in modern Landscape 
Gardening. 

"'The environs of tliese last-named cities are also 
adorned with many elegant country residences, too nu- 
merous to mention here ; but the country seats of John 
H. Shoenberger, of Pittsburgh; Dr. C. W. Short, of 
Louisville ; and Col. John O'Fallon, of St. Louis, may 
be given as examples. The latter, for extent and 
beauty, is excelled by none in tlie West." 

In connection with Landscape Gardening at the West, 

we feel the importance of impressing upon all planters 
the great advantage, and even necessity of thick belts 
and screens of evergreens on the prairies, to shelter or- 
chards, buildings, and stock-yards from the severity of 
the winter winds. 

Mr. Edwards, the Secretary of the Illinois State Hor- 
ticultural Society, writes us, that in this State, especially 
in the neighborhood of Lamoille, Bureau County, the 



560 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

following evergreens do well : the "Wliite, Gray 
(Banksiaini), Austrian, Cembran, and Scotch pines ; the 
Eed, Black, "White, and Norway hemlock spruces; also, 
the Red cedar, the Savin, the Swedish and Irish juni- 
pers, the Balsam fir, the Am-erican and Siberian Arbor 
vitse ; that the Pine and Juniper are peculiarly adapted 
to the high, dry prairies — the Arbor vitse and Spruce to 
moist localities ; and that the folloM-ing varieties have 
been tried, but all need protection in the winter: 
Araucaria imbricata. Cedar of Lebanon, Pinus excelsa, 
Pinus maritima, Deodar cedar ; Douglas, Menzies, arid 
Pinsapo spruces ; English and Irish yews, English Silver 
fir, Chinese and Golden arbor vitse ; the Tree box, 
and even the Dwarf box, for edgings 



J I ^-1 -J~ J L 

± 3 3_JU J. S 11 on 

"1 E^f^l^^^ "^^SKT*^ *^^P»U!2^ [ 





mSTOEICAL NOTICES. 501 



SECTION YI. 

HISTOKICAL NOTICES CONTINUED. 

Not very many years liave passed, since from the 
crowded and confined state of our public Burial 
Grounds within our large cities, the question of extra- 
mural interments excited great and earnest consider- 
ation, and eventually led to the establishment of Rural 
Cemeteries. 

The first one of any importance, was that at Laurel 
Ilill, near Philadelphia, a most successful enterprise, 
mainly due to the taste and perseverance of Mr. John 
Jay Smith, of that city. This was followed by the one 
at New Haven ; Mount Auburn, near Boston ; Green- 
wood, at New York; Spring Grove, near Cincinnati; 
two near Baltimore, &c,, nntil there is hardly a city or 
town of any size in the Union which does not possess 
its Rural Cemetery. 

This was one of those grand improvements in civili- 
zation, the importance and necessity of which was so 
apparent, that it has since been universally adopted, and 
may be fairly considered now one of our institutions. 

Another, and the next great step onward which is 
now exciting much attention throughout the land, is 
the establishment of Parks, which may be classified as 
Public Parks, for the enjoyment of the People of our 
Cities and larger Towns, as the Central Park in New 
York, and Hunting Course Park, near Philadelphia; 
semi-Public Parks, owned and enjoyed by the persons 
who live around them ; and lastly, the Parks, or Orna- 
mental Grounds, attached to our Public Buildings, 
36 



5G2 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING. 

Colleges, &c. As illustration, we will give from each 
class one example, selecting such as we happen to be 
the most familiar with. 

The Central Park, in New York, being the most 
important work of the kind that has been undertaken in 
America, some slight reference to its plan and general 
intention will be appropriate here, the more especially, 
as the editorial articles that appeared in the " Horti- 
culturist," urging its necessity, and setting forth its 
advantages, unquestionably exercised an important in- 
fluence in favor of the project. 

The ground set aside for the purpose, consisting of 
about 750 acres (represented by the small diagram. Fig. 
99), was appropriated by an Act of Legislature, in the 
course of the year following Mr. Downing's death. It 
Avas not, however, till the close of 1857, that the actual 
purchase of the land was completed. Premiums for de- 
signs were at this time offered by the Commissioners 
intrusted with the conduct of the enterprise, and early 
in June, 1858, the plan (Fig. 98), submitted by Fred. 
Law Olmsted, and Calvert Yaux, was adopted by the 
Board. The woi-k was at once actively commenced, 
under the guidance of the designers, and has since been 
steadily pressed forward by the Commission — a force of 
over 2,000 men being employed during the most favor- 
able part of the season. 

From the published description of the design, and 
such other data as have been furnished us, it apj^ears 
that the Park is two and-a-half miles long and half a 
mile wide. It is divided into two distinct parts by the 
old and new Reservoirs — the former a quadrangular 
basin of mason-work ; the latter, of an irregular curved 
outline, with an earth embankment to retain the water. 
These two artificial structures occupy a considerable 
space, and when complete, will have appropriated 
about 150 acres of ground out of the middle of the site ; 




p I 



HISTORICAL NOTICES. 



563 



narrow spaces being left on either side, that at certain 
points become mere connecting links between the upper 
and lower portions of the Park. 

The horizon lines of the upper Park, between the IS'ew 
Pteservoir and 106th street, are bold and sweeping, and 
the slopes have considerable breadth and amplitude in 
almost every direction in which they may be viewed. 
This character is, perhaps, taken altogether, the best 
that can be desired for a parS: ; and but little alteration 
of surface is, therefore, needed. 

A ravine of considerable extent runs through this sec- 
tion of the Park, in which a small lake (A) may readily 
be formed, a view of which is given in Fig. 102; and 
west of this point (i?), where the road meets the dip of 
the two most important hills, a stone bridge is proposed 
to be erected, so that the main circuit-drive may in- 
clude in its course a view of all the principal features of 
interest in the upper Park. The land, for some distance 
to the north of the boundary line {CC), provided by the 
Act of the Legislature, should have been included in 
the original grant, as it commands extensive views that 
are not obtained within the present limits, and consists 
of a series of bold and picturesque rocky bluffs, termi- 
nating abruptly at 110th street, which offer the only 
natural boundary to the Park property. The advisa- 
bility of making this alteration in tlie line is now evi- 
dent to all who visit the locality ; and the attention of 
the city authorities has been, for some time past, drawn 
to the subject. It is, therefore, quite possible that the 
northern boundary may soon be advanced to 110th 
street. This will add about sixty acres to the area of 
the Park. 

On the easterly side of the upper Park it is proposed 
to plant an American Arboretum (D), so that every 
one who wishes to do so may become acquainted with 
the trees and shrubs that will flourish in the open 
air, in the northern and central parts of our country. 



564 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

It is not intended to be arranged formally, but so that 
it may present all the most beautiful features of lawn 
and woodland landscape, preserving, at the same time, 
the natural order of families, as far as practicable. In 
the event of the extension of the Park to 110th street 
being made, the space occupied by the Arboretum 
might be considerably enlarged. 

The lower Park, between 59th street, and the New 
Keservoir, is far more heterogeneous in its character, 
and requires a nmch more varied treatment. Its most 
prominent and characteristic feature is the long, rocky 
hill-side immediately south of the Old Peservoir ; and 
this has been accepted as the central point of landscape 
attraction, to which the other ornamental arrangements 
of the plan are to be made more or less subservient. A 
skating-pond, or lake, of varied outline, and containing 
about lifteen acres, surrounds a considerable portion of 
the base of this hill, and, in a measure, separates it from 
the rest of the lower Park. Expanses of lawn are pre- 
pared on the table-land forming the summit of the hill, 
and the side is converted into a ramble, with a labyrin- 
thine arrangement of foot-paths, leading the visitor 
among groves and shrubbery, rivulets, rocks, and glens, 
to the prominent points of view that are obtained in this 
part of the grounds. 

A cavernous passage formed by large, overhanging 
rocks has been discovered, and excavated during the 
summer, and is an interesting incident heightening the 
naturally picturesque character of the ramble. 

The Promenade {E) is the feature next in importance in 
the lower Park. It consists of a broad level walk be- 
tween double rows of elms. The boundaries are to be 
on all sides irregularly planted, so that its formality will 
scarcely be perceived, except within itself. Its nortliern 
extremity is finished architecturally, and, as suggested 
by the original outline of the surface, is elevated about 
twenty feet above the ground immediately to the north, 



HISTORICAL NOTICES. 565 

overlooking the hill-side occupied by the ramble, and 
being connected with the intervening lake by a Water 
Terrace (see Fig. 103), with which it communicates by 
flights of stone steps, and also through a spacious corridor 
passing under one of the carriage-drives. 

To the west of the promenade a tract of about 
twenty-five acres, of nearly level ground, has been pre- 
pared, by the removal of rocks and other obstructions, 
which is intended to be used as a parade-ground. 

On the east of the promenade {E)^ and partially separ- 
ated from it by an intervening I'idge and plateau, is a 
stretch of pleasantly undulating ground {F)^ intended to 
be carefuU}^ cultivated and planted M'ith fine shade trees. 
To the southwest of the promenade is the play-ground, 
containing now about fourteen acres of levelled surface, 
overlooked by picturesque rocks that offer ample oppor- 
tunity for spectators to view the games. 

The southern extremity or entrance to the promenade 
is approached by roads and foot-paths leading from the 
different gates at the lower end of the Park, and offers 
a point of concentration and divergence both for pedes- 
trians and those driving. Commencing at this point, a 
short circuit or vis-a^is drive of a mile is provided 
around the parade and play-grounds, with branches 
connecting it w^ith the longer circuit-drive that passes 
tlirough the whole length of the upper and lower 
Parks. 

Between the Fifth and Sixth Avenue entrances, near 
tlie southern boundary of the Park, another lake of 
about six acres is provided in low ground that is sug- 
gestive of such an arrangement. 

Around the New Peservoir it is intended to construct a 
course for riding, and connecting with it, a bridle road 
is arranged, that commences with the principal entrance 
gates, and winds tlirough the Park, passing under the 
roads and foot-paths by bridges, one of wliicli is shown 
ill Fig. 100. 



566 



LANDSCAPE GAKDEMNG. 




Fig. 100. 

Along the westerly side of the Park, for a distance 
of nearly two miles, there will be a winter-drive, pro- 
tected by hardy evergreens ; and on the easterly side of 
the lake, a Geometric flower-garden (G) of considei'able 
size is proposed, as will be seen on the diagram of plan. 
Fig. 99. 

In adapting to its present purpose the site selected 
for the Park, its situation in the probable future heart 
of the city had to be considered, and transverse roads 
between the east and west sides of the city were, of 
course, demanded. The Park being two and-a-half miles 
in length, it was also evident that these transverse roads 
would, at no very distant time, become crowded tho- 
roughfares, having nothing in common with the Park 
proper, but every way at variance with the agreeable 
sentiments it should inspire. Eight times in a single 
circuit of the Park, they would oblige a pleasure-drive or 



HISTOlilCAL NOTICES. 567 

Btroll, to encounter a turbid stream of traffic. Each of 
these roads has, therefore, been so located and arranged 
on the adopted plan, that it may be carried through 
the Park on a grade that will allow the pleasure-drives 
to pass entirely over it at the necessary points of inter- 
section, without any obvious elevation or divergence 
from their routes. Short tunnels are preferred for this 
purpose to ordinary bridges, so that the spaces at the 
sides of the pleasure-drive may be thickly planted, and 
the view of the city-street below shut out from view. 
To illustrate still further the treatment of the grounds, 
we have selected- two of the more important points of 
view (Figs. 101 and lOti, 103 and lOi), showing the 
original condition of the land, and the improvements 
which are contemplated. 

In regard to the second description of Parks, we 
would Urst remark, that in the United States, the most 
numerous class from whom the art of Landscape 
Gardening will receive attention, is composed of persons 
of moderate means. They are mostly merchants or 
professional men, who seek a refuge from the confined 
and unwholesome air of the city, or whose taste leads 
them to Und agreeable recreation in the cultivation and 
adornment of a country residence ; who still maintain 
their business, or social connection with the adjacent 
city or town, but whose time and means which can be 
appropriated to their " place," are more or less limited. 

"VVe have, indeed, a rapidly increasing number of 
men of fortune, whose estates are large enough, and 
whose means and liberality are adequate for the pro- 
duction of the highest results of the art ; but our best 
efforts must fall far short of the grand effects attainable 
under the English system of proprietorship, and the 
great majority of the practical exponents of American 
Gardening, will always be cultivators of few acres, 
whose taste, if correctly formed, will lead them to 
attempt only modest results. 



5G8 LAJS'DSCAPE GARDENING. 

There are many practical difficulties, which every 
one must find, who essays to make such countrj^ or sub- 
urban residences. If the selection of a site is to be 
made, the proximity of nuisances, or the danger that 
an advancing population from the neighboring city will 
soon supply them, renders the task one of much per- 
plexity. The limits of your place, plant as ^^ou may, 
can not always be concealed, without shutting out the 
distant prospect ; and all breadth of effect, and grace 
of outline, is destroyed by the effort to secure yourself 
from present or anticipated annoyances. High boundary 
fences, and a separate gate-lodge for ieach place, seem 
necessary for protection from marauders — while the 
idea of even a respectable drive over your own ground, 
secure from the disagreeabl'e objects of the public high- 
way, is rarely entertained. These difficulties, and many 
others, the enthusiastic lover of a country life will 
bravely meet, and patiently endure, when they are 
insurmountable ; but the attempt to overcome them 
has been made with apparent success, by the project 
before mentioned, of a semi-public, or, as it is, we 
believe, called a Neiglihorhood Park. The general 
plan on which such an enterprise can be based, may 
perhaps, be best elucidated by the history and des- 
cription 0^ Llewellyn Pavh^ at Orange, l!^ew Jersey, in 
illustration of which, the engraving on steel (Plate YL), 
presents a view of the entrance. A Plan of the same 
is also given in Fig. 105, and the upper and north- 
western part of the Park is shown in Fig. 106, the 
figures being further exjDlained by the Table of Re- 
ferences, page 573. 

The site selected for this Park is on the eastern slope 
of the Orange mountain, which here forms an inclined 



* The origin and execution of this valuable scheme, is attributable to 
Mr. L. S. Haskell, a merchant of New York, who has enthusiastically devoteJ 
tlie past three years to the develoimient of this, his favorite idea. 



HiSTonicAL ^•oTICES. 5G9 

plane, starting from an elevated plateau, on which is 
the village of Orange, and ascending westerly, at a 
moderate grade, for about a mile, until surmounted by 
a rocky cliff of " Trap," wliicli forms the crest of the 
mountain. The location gives accessibility to New York, 
by railroad, and to the pleasant village at the base of 
the mountain. The view from the grounds comprehends 
the entire area, extending to the city of New York^ 
with a peep of the ocean through the Narrows, on the 
east ; the Highlands of the Hudson on the north ; and 
the receding blue of the New Jersey plains in the 
south ; with the intervening cities, villages, forests, and 
farms. The tract of land procured for the enterprise, 
consisted of some 350 acres, mostly of half-cultivated 
or deserted farms — partly forests of oak, hickory, 
chestnuts, cedar, and pines. 

It will usually be found, as in this case, that the most 
suitable land for such a project is — from the desirable 
irregularities of surface, the profusion of rocks and ra- 
vines, and its elevated position — the least useful for the 
agriculturist. That portion of the grounds selected for 
the Park proper is centrally situated, 'as regards the 
whole tract, and in form it is irregular, following the 
natural indications of the surface — being traversed by 
a finely wooded ravine, through which flows a brook, 
affording material for ornamental water and cascades, 
which have been tastefully made throughout its course. 
It comprises nearly sixty acres — its greatest length mea- 
suring one mile — the entire tract being encompassed by 
a road which gives access to the surrounding residences ; 
and the other drives made for the convenience of those 
Bites not immediately contiguous to the Park, increase the 
extent of carriage roads to an aggregate of five miles. 
The walks, measuring about the same length, lead from 
the entrance, to the summit of the cliff, and to other 
interesting parts of the grounds ; while at suitable points 
are kiosks, seats, and bridges, constructed in rustic- 



570 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

work, to be in keej^ing with the natural character of the 
surrounding forests. The entrance from the public 
road is protected by a gate-lodge, and is set back from 
the highway two hundred and iifty feet ; a liberal space 
here rendering tlie change from tlie road to the culti- 
vated grounds of the park less abrupt, and expressing 
the idea of hospitality. The main avenue from the 
entrance soon leads tlie visitor into the ravine, while on 
either hand diverge the other roads ; following Glen 
Avenue, we emerge from the ravine, by a picturesque 
turn up the precipitous bank. The somewhat laby- 
rinthian drives which now offer themselves, lead in 
graceful curves throughout the estate, the unity of 
which is not marred by interior fences ; for though the 
proprietors are not restricted in this respect by any 
rule, they have, by common consent, thus far avoided 
the erection of any barriers, excepting those necessary 
to enclose the whole tract. The Park itself and all the 
private places, seem like one large estate, enlivened by 
the dwellings and embellishments which, at intervals, 
are seen throughout the vistas of the forest. After 
making the detour of these grounds, the drive may be 
continued to other interesting places in the neighbor- 
hood, among which is " Eagle Rock," a bold projecting 
portion of the cliff, commanding a wider scope of the 
horizon, and more nearly a birds-eye view of the land- 
scape. Around this central tract,' especially termed 
" the Park," the remainder of the property is divided 
into about fifty villa sites, of from three to ten acres 
each, the proprietors of which have a joint interest 
in and common access to the Park, but who possess 
the sole and unrestricted right to the lot which 
they may have selected. The fund for the pur- 
chase and embellishment of the Park is derived from 
an assessment on the surrounding sites, of one hundred 
dollars per acre ; and for the maintenance of the Park, 
and future improvements, an annual assessment is made 





^ 


H 


-<^ 




^ 




K 




*H 




b^ 


gj 


i?i 


K 


1— 


to 


^n ^ 


H 


k1 




r 


» 


^ 




^s 


■*■ 






i^ 


^ 






»^ fe^^fflSfe 4w»-%iiCS\ ai 





n 
^ 


H 

^ 


Q 


t^ 


-!? 








B 


t^ '^ 


H 


\o. 


S S 


CO 


1: 


t^ ' 


H 


i?', 




M 


«-i 


^ 




^ 


W 


K^ 


/ 


r^ 




t 


to 






^ 4P '>'^ .^s^- ^^j,* 




HISTOKICAL NOTICES. 57 1 

bj the proprietors, not to exceed ten dollars per acre. 
The fee of the Park is in three trustees and their 
successors, and its care and embellishment is entrusted 
to a " Committee of Management," who are elected 
annually by the lot owners. 

Some of the advantages which are aimed at, in what 
may be termed the social park, may be thus stated : 

1. The securing a neighborhood free from nuisances 
and an inferior class of buildings. 

2. The rural character of the grounds is preserved, 
instead of assuming the rectangular forms of a village, 
which are a repetition of city lots on an inferior scale, 

3. The different places can be laid out with mutual 
reference to each other, so that the subdivisions are not 
apparent in a way detrimental to the general effect. 

4. A line entrance and approach road can be secured, 
even where the private grounds are small, and the 
amount appropriated to these embellishments limited. 

5. The Park affords extensive drives and walks for 
the exclusive use of the proprietors, with a variety in 
the ornamental grounds unattainable on places of ordi- 
nary magnitude. 

To illustrate the general mode of treatment of the 
private grounds adjoining the Park, we give, in Figs. 107 
and 108, plans of one of the sites of five acres. It is 
situated on a gentle knoll, and the house, which is in 
the Tuscan manner, occupies the summit, and com- 
mands fine distant views in all directions. The place 
is laid out in the natural style, by that very clever 
Landscape Gardener, Mr. Bauman, and an appropriate 
connection between the house and the surrounding 
grounds is maintained by an artificial terrace, fifteen 
feet wide at the top, and ornamented with vases, etc. 

The plans may serve, also, to show the method of 
grouping the trees — their positions, and the varieties 
used, being given in the Table of Keferences, page 573. 

Another phase ofimprovement in our rural taste is 
the increasing care and attention bestowed upon the 



572 LANDSCAPE GAEDENING. 

grounds attached to our colleges, hospitals, and other 
public buildings. 

Mr. Downing, we think, did much to develop this in 
the taste he disj^layed in the arrangement of the grounds 
attached to the Smithsonian Institute and La Fayette 
Square, in Washington. We are rapidly passing from the 
straight, formal walks, and the rectangular plantations 
of the jDast, into the more harmonious and pleasing 
arrangements of the modern scliool. Clinton Park and 
Botanic Garden, which contains within its limits Hamil- 
ton College, at Clinton, N. Y., is a very successful illus- 
tration of this improvement. Fifteen or twenty acres 
have been enclosed within the College Park, and en- 
tirely laid out in the most skillful and artistic manner. 
Broad and extensive, lawns are divided by graceful 
walks throughout the whole extent ; trees and shrubs, 
of every description flourishing in this climate, have been 
planted in groups, masses, or as single sj^ecimens. 

A section of the ground will be used as a Botanic 
Garden, in which trees, shrubs, and flowers will be 
arranged according to their several families. 

The humanizing influence of harmonious and beauti- 
ful surroundings upon every one, is beyond all question; 
and it was truly said by the Rev. Mr. Gridley, to whose 
taste and energy much of the success of the Clinton 
Park is due, that "• it is no vain thing to suppose that 
the minds and hearts of students will be benefited by 
daily walks through such grounds, and in view of such 
a varied and wide-spread landscape : these peaceful 
shades and sunny slopes and laughing streams — this 
hum of cheerful industry — the music of distant church 
bells, and the glimpses and echoes here caught of the 
great thoroughfares of business and travel that mark 
the great world without — these skies, ever changing and 
ever beautiful, and the seasons rolling through them — ■ 
what mind can be brought into the midst of such scenes 
without deriving from them essential profit ?" 



LANDSCAPE GA.UDENING, 



573 



EEFERENCES 



EXPLANATION OF EEFEKENCES FOR FIGURES 105 & 106. 



No. 1. Lycenm. 
" 2. The Wigwam. 
'• S. Summer-hoiiso. 



Children's Play-ground. 

Social Circle. 

The Evergreens. 

The Hickories. 

Tlic Chestnuts. 

The Oaks. 

The Rocks. 



No. 12. Stone Bridge on 0.ak Bend. 
" 13. The Cascade. 
" 14. Gate-lodge. 
" 15. Conservatory and Propagating 

house. 
" 16. Prospect Tower. 
" 17. The Kiosk. 
" 18. Rock work. 
" 19. Ravine Spring. 
P. B. Private Residences. 



TABLE OF REFERENCES FOR FIGURES lOT & 108. 



The House. 

The Conservatory. 

Grass Terrace. 

Gravelled Terrace. 

Approach. 

Fountain and Jet d'cau, surrounded 

•with beds of flowers. 
Kiosk, from which is the best view 

of the house. 
Rosery, in the centre of which Is a 

suitable place for a statue or vase. 
Coach-house and Stable. 
Kitchen-garden, separated from the 
lawn by a belt of trees, DLL. 
E 1. Sugar Maple. 

2. Silver " 

3. Norway " 

4. Lombardy Poplar. 

6. Screen of American Arbor Vitae. 
C. Group of Rhododendrons. 

F\. Group of White Pines, 

2. Lofty growing trees, near the bound- 

ary. Oaks, Maples, and Tulips. 

3. Chinese double-flowering Apple, Ken- 

tucky Coffee tree, and Kolreu- 
teri.a. 

/Tl, 6, & 7. A large group of trees, both 
Evergreen and Deciduous, planted 
on the outskirts of the place. 

2. Acacia Bensoniana. 

3. Group of Euonymus (purple-leaved). 

4. Austrian Pine and Pinus cxcelsa. 

5. European Weeping Ash. 

T 1. Group of low evergreen trees. Tew 
<fc Arbor Yitse. 

2. Group of Mountain Laurels. 

3. " of Mabonias. 

4. " of Bohemian Olives. 



5. Thuja Warreana. 

6. Syringa Chinensis. 

7. Group of Lindens. 

8. A Weeping Willow. 

9. Red Flowering Horse-chestnut. 

10. Double-white " 

11. Hemlock, European Silver Fir, Irish 

Juniper, and Picea Webbiana, 
planted singly. 

12. Pyrus Japonica. 

J/l. Groups of Evergreen Trees. 

2. Syringa grandlflora, Forsythia Viri- 

dissima and Kerria Japonica. 

3. Berberis purpurea, Amygdalus pu- 

mila, Calicanthus lajvigatus, and 
Deutzia gracilis. 

4. Double-flowering Cherry. 

5. Three single American Silver Firs. 

6. Juniperus communis. 

7. American Weeping Willow. 

8. Magnolia tripetala. 

9. Magnolia Soulanghana. 

10. Deciduous Cypress and Ginko. 

11. Purple-leaved Beech. 

12. Paulownia imperialis. 

13. Judas Tree and Amer. Nettle Tree. 

14. Spireas. 

P 1. Group of six Mahonias. 

2. " of Rhododendrons. 

3. " of Kalmias and Epigea re- 

pens. 

Q 1. Group of Roses, Spire.as, ani Weige- 
lias. 

2. Azalias. 

3. Rhododendrons. 

4. Magnolia purpurea. 

U Yard and WelU 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Page 

ALies 250, 484 

" biacteala 503 

•' densa 511 

*' Fraseri 508 

" Kitnipleri 242, 50G 

" nobilis 509 

" pinsapo 511 

•' spectabalis ."11 

" Webbiana 511 

Acclimatizing trees 473 

Acer 165, 456 

Acacia, tliree thorned 172 

jEsculus 155, 457 

African Cyprus 535 

Ailantlius 202 

Alder 163, 4.')9 

Alderthorpe, residence of J. F. Fisher 555 

AInus 163, 459 

American Silver Fir 256 

Ampelopsis hederacea 27S 

Ancient Style, plantations in 75 

Arabia 47(1 

Araucaria 4s8 

Arbor vitaj 2d7, 4S9, 529 

" broad-leaved 629 

" Don's 507 

Architecture liural 318 

Aristolochia sipho 2S0 

Appendix 413 

Approach, the ; 288 

Arnold, James, residence of 41 

Ash, the 121, 138,462, 463 

Aspinwall, W. 11., residence of 36 

Balmof Gilead 256 

Balsam Fir 256 

Baltimore, residences around 556 

Bartram Garden 556 

Basswood 145 

Beachclytl'e 560 

Beautiful, in Landscape Gardening. . 51 

Beautiful, planting to produce 80 

Beech, the 147, 461 

Belmont 3S, 158 

Betula 461 

Berberis 539 

Bignonia 280 

Birch, the 158, 460 

Black Gum 216 

Blithewood SO 

Boston, residences around 549 

Brookwood, residence of C. H Fisher 655 

Brooks, treatment of 313 

Broussonetia 186 

Brown, Alex., residence of 43 

Bridges 399 

Buttonwood, the 134 

California Nutmeg ; 533 

California Kedwood 627 

Camac, Mrs., residence of 42 

574 



Carpinus 150, 462 

Carroll Manor 538 

Carya 194 

Cascades 314 

Castanea 170, 40 J 

Catalpa 212 

Ceanothus 470 

Cedars 206, 491 

Cedar, Incense 506 

Cedar, Japan 495 

Cedar of Lebanon 202 

Cedar, the \V hite 495 

Cedrus 491 

Celastrus scandens 279 

Cemeteries, ruial 559, 561 

Central Park, N. Y 562 

Cercis 174, 461 

Cephalota.xus 494, 523 

ChamKCy paris 535 

Champlost, residence of C. P. Fox. . . 5.°)6 

Chestnut 176 

Chinese rice paper plant 470 

Chinensis procumbens 497 

Chinquapin 180 

Clematis 281 

Clifton Park, residence of Mr. 

Hopkins... 557 

Clinton Park, Clinton, N. Y 572 

Compost for Ithododendrons, &c 637 

Cornus 2J9 

Cornus variegata 470 

Conservatory 3S6 

Cotoneaster 536 

Cottage orne e 100 

Country place, how to make 437 

CratiEgus 218 

Cryptomerias 495 

Cunninghainia 496 

Currant, flowering 471 

Gushing, J. P., residence of. 88 

Cupressus 23S, 497, 527 

Cypress 234 

" the African 535 

" Keciduous . . 527 

" the True 497 

Dacrydium 498 

Daphne atro purpureum 471 

Deciduous Shrubs 469 

Diospyros 214 

Deutzias 471 

Devonshire, residence of Mr. Blight 556 

Dogwood 229 

" Variegated-leaved 470 

Drive, the 293 

Elder, black 471 

Ellerslie 33 

Elm, the .... 12S, 469 

Embellishments 362 

Emmet, Wm., residence of. 34 



GKNERAL INDEX. 



575 



English Cottage style 34S 

Entrance Lodges 806 

European Silver Fir 257 

Expression in Architecture 323 

Evergreen trees 240 

" the newer 484 

Evergi-eon shrubs. . . 535 

Evergreens, transplanting 419 



Fagus 147, 

Farmlands, residence of Mr. Lurnian 

Fences .... 

Feruie ornee 

Fern-Hill, residence of J. P. M'Kean 

Firs ... 

Fir, the American Silver 

" European Silver 

Fitz-E("ya Patagonia 

Flower Garden, architectural 

" " English . . - 

" " at IJropmore 

" " French 

•' " irregular . 

Flowers, Introduction of 

Forsythia viridissima 

Fountains 

Fraxiuus 13S, 

Gardiner, J. L., residence of 

Gelseuiinum 

Geometric gardening 

Ginko 21;, 

Gleditschia. 

Glycine 

Glyptostrobus 

Gothic Style for Domestic Architec- 
ture 

Green House 

Ground, treatment of. 

Grouping of trees 77, 

Gymnocladus 

Hamilton, Wm., residence of 

Hampton, residence of Mr. Kidgley 
Harmony between House and 

Grounds .... 

Harmony in Landscape Garden- 



ia, 



Hawthorn, English , 

Hedera Helix 

Hedges, trees suitable for 

Hercules' Club 

Historical Notices 

Hillhouse, James, residence of 

Hickory Tree 

Holes for Trees 

Holly 

Honeysuckle 

Hornbeam .. 150, 

Horse Chestnut. . . 155, 

Hudson Itiver, residences on 

Hunter's Island 

Hunnewell, H. H., residence of. 

Idlewild.. 

Ilex 

Ilex laurifolia. b>6, 

Illinois, Mr. Edwards' Keport on 

Evergreen.? in 

Irving, Washington, residence of. 35, 

Ironwood .. 

Islands, formation of . . . 

Italian Scenery 

Italian Garden 



4G; 
556 
295 

yy 

555 
25t) 
24G 
257 
499 
371 
376 
375 
374 
873 
430 
471 
404 
402 

549 

28) 

72 

231 

172 

282 
4y9 

341 

3S0 
287 
114 
204 

25 
557 



60 

218 
270 
290 
470 
540 
87 
194 
418 
id70 
2a3 
402 
4;i7 

30 
442 

554 

270 
53S 

560 
353 
l.">0 
80,8 
4.")1 
444 



P<aa 

Jessamine 235 

Judas Tree 174 

Juglans 190 

Junipers 266, 500 

Landscape Gardening 17,45, 67 

i)o. progress in 425 

Lakes in Landscape Gardening. 802 

Larch, the 238, 506 

Larix 23ri 

Latimer, J. P., residence of 43 

Laurus 211 

Lawn, treatment of 420, 424 

" Grass Seed for 122 

" Mowing Machine 422 

" Top Uressi ng for 424 

Lee, Thomas, residence of 40 

Lemon Hill 27 

Leycesteria 471 

Libocedrus 500 

Ligustrum 471 

Liriodendrou Ii:i5 

Linden, the 143, 409 

Linmere, residence of li. S. Fay.. .. 149 

Lime Tree 143, 469 

Liquid Amber 188 

Livingston, Chancellor, residence of 27 

Livingston, Manor of 80 

Llewellyn Park, Orange, N. J 507 

Locust, the 170 

Lonicera 283 

Ludlow, T, W., residence of 353 

Lyman, Theo., " 26 

Lyndhurst, residence of P. Jtihnson . . 558 

Machine for Mowing Lawns 417, 422 

Madura ISl 

Magnolia 330,464 

Malionia 586 

Malbunii Place, residence of J. Pres- 

cott Hall, Esq 550 

Mauimoth Tree, the 534 

Maple, the 105, 455 

Margins of Water 318 

Marine Kesidences 549 

Minturu, Pobert li 86 

Modern Style, plantations in .... . 70 

Monroe, James, residence oi. 36 

Mondawmin 558 

Montgomery Place 31 

Morus 184 

Mountain Ash 198, 407 

Mowing Lawns. 422 

Mulberry 184 

Newport, residences around 550 

Norway Spruce 267 

Nyssa 211 

Oak, the 117, 4 Co 

Ohio, Landscape Gardening in 558 

Ornamental Plantations 91 

Ostrya 15o 

Osage Orange 181 

Outline of Water 804 

Park, treatment of 83 

Parks 662 

Paulownia 245 

Pavia 157, 468 

Peach, White flowering. 471 

Periploca 285 

Perkins, Col., residence of. 38 

Persica vulgaris, flore ])leno alba. . . . 471 



570 



GENKKAL INDEX. 



Pack 

Persimon, the 21-i 

Peters, Judge, residence of 20 

Peperidge, the 216 

Philadelphia, residences around 555 

Picea 507 

Picturesque in Landscape Gard 51 

Picturesque, planting to produce. ... SI 

Pine, the 511, 240 

Pine, Chili 4S9 

" Norlblk, Island 4S9 

Pine-Bank 89 

Pinus 240, 511, 509 

" cedrus 493 

" deodara 491 

" Praseri 508 

" Ka.»inpleri 506 

" lasiocarpa 507 

" pinsapo 511 

" striata 51 1 

" Siberica 510 

Pipe vine 2S0 

Pits for wintering plants 4S2 

Plane tree 184 

Plantanus 134 

Plants, half-hardy 473 

Podocarpus ; . . . 525 

Poplar, the 228, 160 

Populus 150 

Porch, expression of 325 

Prairies, evergreens on the 560 

Privet 471 

Prospect tower 897 

I'seudo laris Ksempferi 600 

Pyrus 198 

Quercus 117, 4C5 

Eathbone J., residence of 34 

Kepose in Landscape Gardening 432 

Ketinispora ericoides 635 

lihododendrons 536 

Kibes sanguinoum tlore pleno 471 

Riverside villa, illustration of 97 

Eoads, construction of 288 

Eobinea 170 

Koseneath, residence of U. M. Wol- 

cott 554 

Eoses 284 

Eocks, used with ornamental water. 3o7 

Eock-work 400 

Eockwood 552 

Eustic work, fences of 297 

Salisburia 26, 231 

Salix. 207, 466 

Sambucus flore pleno 471 

Sargent, H. W., residence of 439, 34 

Sassafras tree 211 

Saxe Gothwa conspicua 526 

Service tree 201 

Seats, open and covered 392 

Sequoia gigantea 534 

" sempervirens 527 

Silver fir 507 

Sheatf, G., residence of. 41 

Sheldon, Mr., residence of. 354 

Shrubbery, the 380 

Shrubs, Evergreen 535 

Sophora 4()7 

Spireas 471 

Spruce Pirs 484 

Stakes, use of, in planting 448 

Statues 368 



Stenton 43 

Styles of Architecture 828 

Supplement to Landscape Gardening 425 
Sur\ilUers, Count de, residence of. . . 41 

Sweet Gum tree 188 

Syringa Josikica 472 

Tabular view of evergreens 540 

Tamarix Africaua 472 

Taxus '. 272, 528 

"* Montana f33 

" Lambertiana 511 

Taxodium 234 

" pendulum 500 

" distichum 527 

" Japonicum 499 

" sempervirens 5^7 

Terrace, to connect house and grounds 363 

Th.ayer, J. E., residence of 549 

Thuiopsis 497, .i29 

Thuja 499, 529 

'• Australis 491 

Thorn tree 218 

Tilia 143, 468 

Transporting trees 413, 417 

Trees, choice of 415 

" classilication of Iii2 

" expression in 112 

" drooping. 1U9 

" management of, in Landscape. 69 

" round headed 103 

" spiry top 105 

" oblong headed 103 

Trumpet creeper 280 

Torrey a 532 

Tupelo 217 

Tulip ti-ee 225 

Ulmus 128, 470 

Unity in Landscape Gardening 64 

Variety in Landscape Gardening. . . . C6 

Vines 275 

Virginia creeper 278 

Virgilia iutea 243 

Wadsworth, D., residence of 37 

Walks, construction of 288 

Waltham House 28 

"Walnut tree 198 

Warren, Mr., residence of 354 

AVashingtonia gigantea 534 

Water, treatment of •.....'.. 299 

Waterfalls 314 

Watering trees when planting 418 

Wellingtonia gigantea 534 

White beam, the 201 

AVhite wood i!25 

Widdringtonia 535 

Willow 207, 466 

Wistaria 282, 

Wood, management of 70, 87, 440 

Wootlbine 283 

Woodlield, residence of Mr. Swift. . . 25 

W oodlawn 656 

Wodeuethe 34 

Tew, the 272, 494, 528 

" Prince Albert's 520 

" stinking 632 

Vases 368 

Verandah 326 



82b 



